Wikipedia will soon have a new look
2003, 2005 and most recently 2011: Wikipedia’s desktop interface has only changed significantly three times in its history. After the last major adjustment over a decade ago, however, the developers are once again putting their hands on the website. How to in one blog post describes, the adjustments are intended to take into account the requirements that Internet users today have of a modern platform. According to future zone the new design is already partially active on the English pages, the German Wikipedia should follow suit soon.
The evolution of Wikipedia design
First important change for readers of the platform: the fresh design also brings with it a new table of contents, which always offers direct access to different sections of the article. The element, previously placed at the beginning of the article, slides to the left and remains pinned even when scrolling down. The button for selecting the language is placed much more prominently than before in the top right-hand corner.
New table of contents
The overarching website menu slides into a fold-out element at the top left edge. As the developers describe, they wanted to banish the very “extensive menu” from the reader’s view and thus achieve a focus on “the desired information without distraction”. The button is part of the new dynamic header, which now always stays pinned to the top of the page. Here you also get access to the improved search, which now provides images and short descriptions directly.
There is also criticism
Last but not least, a new article structure policy is introduced. All Wikipedia articles will have a maximum line width in the future. The developers explain: “Research has shown that limiting the width of long-form text leads to a more pleasant reading experience and a better understanding of the content itself.”
However, this decision in particular also caused criticism, because the now limited line width means that, depending on the monitor and resolution, large parts of the website remain empty. However, the developers were already prepared for users who were bothered by this new view. In the lower right corner there is a button that switches the text display back to full width.
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