**swalling** wrote:

(In reply to comment #9)
> (In reply to comment #8)
> > > * "[edit]" going to one place unless you've got a preference in which case it
> > > goes to another is… confusing
> > > 
> > > * "[edit]" OR "[edit source]" if you've got a preference is a bit messy, but
> > > not that bad
> > 
> > Personally I think one of these two are the only viable options. The dropdown
> > arrow or cog is too much unnecessary choice. The point of section edit links
> > is to enable speedy editing of single sections, so introducing a dropdown is
> > overloading things. Most new editors will appreciate defaulting to VE, and
> > for power users who need edit source, this is where having a preference to
> > change your default to edit source would come in handy (a preference I am
> > guessing would free us up to also move "Edit source" at the top of the page in
> > to a dropdown).
> 
> I disagree. I would say that, as an axiom, preferences are bad; they add
> complexity for coders (expensive), bug testers (irritating) and most
> importantly users (alienating).
> 
> In this case, we would also lose momentum as many power users might early-on
> opt out of VisualEditor for section edits, and so never use it as much as
> we'd
> hope. We would lose their input, their bug reports and most importantly their
> enculturation for new users of this being the 'right' way to edit. We don't
> want another Vector roll-out disaster on our hands; ever day that Monobook
> remains on the servers is another notch on that failure yardstick. :-(

On the other hand, you potentially distract and confuse the heck out of new users by presenting a dropdown to edit source when they were about click edit. The conceptual difference between "edit" and "edit source" is not crystal clear to people who don't know the differences between VE and wikitext up front. 

There are also a lot of section edits on most large articles, sometimes in close succession. I think we should be really cautious about enabling multi-level controls and options on something this ubiquitous on a single page.