From T148583#2813012:
- Is linter_id really how users would want us to sort this? (I suppose dba's don't like the idea of denormalizing page_title into the linter table just for the purpose of sorting? However, even just sorting by (namespace,linter_id) seems like it would be a more useful order)
The dropdown filter allowing me to select by namespace is sufficient for sorting purposes IMO.
It might be reasonably to default sort to the cause of the problem i.e. the offending text.
Where the problem is caused might also be preferable. Errors without templates involved are usually simpler to solve, so these would be just as much targets for easy fixes as taking several hours to read through the arcane syntax of wikitext programming (but are sometimes as lengthy in time due to simple magnitude).
We now have some sorting. Plus we have T170874: Provide additional Linter statistics about template-generated issues that tracks the issue of providing stats separately for templates and non-templates.
Re Izno's point about templates: There are three possibilities:
With this in mind, I wouldn't find it useful to sort by errors without templates vs. errors with templates. Izno and other users might value this capability.
More useful than sorting, but perhaps more work, would be searching or selecting. We can already select by namespace. It would be great if we could select by "last edited by [user]" or "last edited within X hours or days". In the case of bogus file options, it would be great if we could select by file option; sometimes I want to fix just misspellings of the word "right", or blank options. I have no idea how much effort would be involved with any of these ideas and if they are worth the trouble to code.
It would be helpful if articles were sorted in order of when most recently edited, probably in order of most recently edited last. That way, if one can easily find the new additions/modifications for any type of lint, with or without namespace filter. This is particularly helpful for users who don't use LintHint, edit an article, go to page information, find that there are still errors, and want to work on the remaining errors. I have had experiences of editing an article, verifying from page information that the lint errors had been updated, going to a lint error page for a remaining type of lint error, and not finding the page I had worked on listed among the last 5,000 or even 10,000 errors. This problem would not go away by waiting minutes or hours. Things are sorted approximately in order of when last reviewed by the linter, but I have had experiences where this sort didn't work. I don't care so much about this any more, because I use LintHint, which enables me to find and remove errors of all types in one edit session.
As the Linter UI can select a single page by Title or Title Prefix, from the search form found under the category list in the main Special:LinterErrors page, my hope is that this provides an adequate report focussing on just one pages errors. Using it, I can navigate from the reports error links to the wiki page, fix the highlighted error, save and then return to the report and select the next error. While not as convenient as LintHint which inspires me, hopefully it is adequate for others who don't use LintHint.