91–100 of 288 posts
Finally. I have a big monitor and the line width is insane, glad they made it a more reasonable column layout, moving my head from end to end was getting very annoying that I had to use custom CSS instead.
I don't need a header to follow me down the page, in fact I'd prefer it not to. On the very rare occasion when I need to scroll all the way to the top of the page, I have no problem figuring out how to do that. Feels like they're introducing a persistent UI element without a benefit. Benefit to me, anyway. Maybe they heard from a lot of users who were having trouble remembering where the header was, I can't say. I do…
> I don't need a header to follow me down the page, in fact I'd prefer it not to.
Edit: I wasn't logged in before, and thus wasn't shown the header you are talking about. Now that I see it, I'm with you and don't like it. Everything there could have gone in the sidebar above the ToC instead of wasting vertical space. I also dislike the extra non-persistant sidebar box shown when logged in that pushes the ToC down off the screen. That should be one side or the other, not in place of the ToC.
I find the persistent ToC to be very helpful, and the space is uses would have gone to waste anyway in full-screen mode, so it doesn't cause any harm. I don't love the menu button in half-screen (and presumably mobile) mode. I feel like they would have been better off with a full-width bar at that point since it blocks reading those top few lines anyway.
> I'm not sure what value the collapsible table of contents is.
For some articles the full multi-level ToC is longer than will fit on a single page, so you either need to allow collapsing, or scrolling of the side bar which never works well.
> I get why having a maximum line length is good for readability. My reaction to this feature is negative ...
I was nervous when I read this as well, but I like the results. They didn't over do it like so many websites to today with tiny newspaper-like columns, and will be more readable for the majority of people who never resize the browser. For me, I keep all my browser windows half-screen anyway and the redesign has smaller gutters than before, which is a win.
> These improvements will make Wikipedia more welcoming and easier to use.
Above quote from the notification, which, again, has no visual borders. Just an insanely contrast-less sky blue on a white background.
Whoever has thought of this being a good idea should just go and resign in shame. Not every questionable design "trend" has to be followed.
[1] https://twitter.com/tuomassalo/status/978717292023500805
I don't need a header to follow me down the page, in fact I'd prefer it not to. On the very rare occasion when I need to scroll all the way to the top of the page, I have no problem figuring out how to do that. Feels like they're introducing a persistent UI element without a benefit. Benefit to me, anyway. Maybe they heard from a lot of users who were having trouble remembering where the header was, I can't say. I do…
Note to those not liking this, there is an option in the preferences to revert to the old Vector skin. No idea how long this will be but setting that preference may give them feedback that some users prefer the old layout.
To what extent Wikipedia's UI/UX assessment team are aware of this and can note a strong defection from any new features even where that defection represents only a small fraction of visitors I don't know.
Worse: sufficiently annoying / offputting features can simply lead to defection from a site entirely. A major problem with A/B testing is that if the cumulative effect of features has been to drive away those preferring the path not taken, then all your A/B tests are doing is validating survivorship bias.
(I'd give my experience with Reddit over the years, which has lead me to all but entirely avoid the site, or more recently a rather drastic turn in Twitter's dynamics affecting many long-term participants, as cases in point.)
Of the specific changes Wikipedia are putting into place, the maximum line length is a style change I've applied myself for about a decade now using various CSS browser extensions. I'm not much a fan of pinned headers, though that would be less an issue on desktop than my e-ink tablet. For that, I prefer the Desktop layout generally, but zoom the screen to cut off the left-hand sidebar entirely, which works fairly well until such time as I want to view an image fully zoomed.
I do find the sidebar useful on desktop. The present Mobile layout is annoying in multiple regards though it might be useful on a smaller device (I'm using a 13" e-ink tablet, which is generally not constrained for space.)
I don't need a header to follow me down the page, in fact I'd prefer it not to. On the very rare occasion when I need to scroll all the way to the top of the page, I have no problem figuring out how to do that. Feels like they're introducing a persistent UI element without a benefit. Benefit to me, anyway. Maybe they heard from a lot of users who were having trouble remembering where the header was, I can't say. I do…
all these changes are geared at mobile. I imagine thats the majority of their traffic now
Several other changes ... seem fairly agnostic.
> Research has shown that limiting the width of longform text leads to a more comfortable reading experience, and better retention of the content itself. Is this actually true? I'm curious if anybody has sources for this and if it's a common UX practice. I tend to use wider windows than traditional 8:9 half-screens and this max-width practice drives me nuts.
I don't need a header to follow me down the page, in fact I'd prefer it not to. On the very rare occasion when I need to scroll all the way to the top of the page, I have no problem figuring out how to do that. Feels like they're introducing a persistent UI element without a benefit. Benefit to me, anyway. Maybe they heard from a lot of users who were having trouble remembering where the header was, I can't say. I do…
I love the new design when not logged in. After logging in however... > I don't need a header to follow me down the page, in fact I'd prefer it not to. Edit: I wasn't logged in before, and thus wasn't shown the header you are talking about. Now that I see it, I'm with you and don't like it. Everything there could have gone in the sidebar above the ToC instead of wasting vertical space. I also dislike the extra non-pe…
>> I don't need a header to follow me down the page, in fact I'd prefer it not to.
> I find the persistent ToC to be very helpful
Finally. I have a big monitor and the line width is insane, glad they made it a more reasonable column layout, moving my head from end to end was getting very annoying that I had to use custom CSS instead.
Why can't you just resize the window to a width that is comfortable for you?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I love the new design when not logged in. After logging in however... > I don't need a header to follow me down the page, in fact I'd prefer it not to. Edit: I wasn't logged in before, and thus wasn't shown the header you are talking about. Now that I see it, I'm with you and don't like it. Everything there could have gone in the sidebar above the ToC instead of wasting vertical space. I also dislike the extra non-pe…
>> I don't need a header to follow me down the page, in fact I'd prefer it not to. > I find the persistent ToC to be very helpful This sounds like the perfect application of customization. Why chose one, when you could have both at nearly no cost. :)