While testing version 2.0 of the Reply tool, several people noted that when using the tool's visual
mode, the formatting tools (Bold, Italic, Link, etc.) can be hard to reach because they are located far from peoples' focus.
We're responding to this feedback by experimenting with moving the tools TO the left side of the visual
mode's toolbar FROM the right side. In right-to-left languages, the tools would appear on the right side of the toolbar.
@Aron Manning (source), @Jules* (source), @Gnom (source) and @Geraki (source), considering y'all explicitly mentioned how the text formatting tools can, in some cases, be difficult to reach, we wonder: What do you (and of course, anyone else!) think of this version of the tool that locates the tools on the left side of the screen in LTR languages?
You can experiment with a prototype of the Reply tool that has the tools on the left side of the visual
mode's toolbar here: http://patchdemo.wmflabs.org/wikis/d24f36b58213af4b88912a2e8484de95/w/index.php/Talk:Main_Page
Notes: we are also testing this new location with people who are new to using wikitext talk pages; this experimentation is happening in phab:T257281.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/A_screenshot_comparing_versions_of_visual_mode%27s_toolbar.png/658px-A_screenshot_comparing_versions_of_visual_mode%27s_toolbar.png)
visual
mode's text tools.