It's not clear to the user what the purpose of the Comment: field is when new users are editing a page.
Observation
There was a page that included material on which users were asked to comment. At the bottom of the page was a "Comments" section with instructions to click "Edit" to add comments below.
The first two users (who are new to wiki) to try put their comment in textbox next to the "Comment:" label instead of in the editor textarea.
Task
Appending to a page requesting comments.
Users
Users were new to wiki, but 2 out of 2 did the same incorrect thing.
Context
I was over the shoulder of the first and I got a phone call from the second. When I went to see the second he was doing the same thing as the first -- typing in the comment box.
Discussion
I think "Comment" is too ambiguous. It doesn't clearly state what the user is commenting on and it doesn't convey its purpose (to be listed on RecentChanges as a summary of the change made to the page).
A more meaningful label might help. I've change PageEditor.py and PageGraphicalEditor to say "Summary of change to page:" I'm not sure this is the best phrase, however.
Yes, "Summary of your changes:" seems to be a good label. -- ThomasWaldmann 2009-06-18 12:50:37