18 votes

Wikipedia has spent years on a barely noticeable redesign

Posted by Fal
Tags: wikipedia, encyclopedias, design.web, ux, websites, internet, author.annie rauwerda, source.slate, paywall
https://slate.com/technology/2023/01/wikipedia-redesign-vector-2022-skin.html

Link information

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Authors
Annie Rauwerda
Published
Jan 18 2023
Word count
1446 words

12 comments

  1. [4]
    Atvelonis
    Link
    As someone who's contributed to Wikipedia and other MediaWiki projects for almost 10 years, these changes are great. The community has a fit about every redesign that comes their way (regardless...

    As someone who's contributed to Wikipedia and other MediaWiki projects for almost 10 years, these changes are great. The community has a fit about every redesign that comes their way (regardless of its utility) but inevitably, with the exception of a few stubborn powerusers, promptly falls in love with the new look shortly thereafter.

    Wikipedia's readability has always been hampered by its excessive width. It's not even a matter of debate; the Foundation cites a mountain of research indicating that the number of characters per line Vector 2010 supports is not only high, it's way too high—like three times as much as the optimal reading value. I don't mind having a wide interface for an encyclopedia because of all the floating images and graphs, and because the articles are long, but this has been a long time coming.

    As for the rest of the redesign, I hardly have an opinion, but the table of contents never belonged in the article body. I also like the sticky header. Otherwise, some stability in the appearance of the website is nice.

    Good on the Foundation for prioritizing an optimal default reading experience for users who primarily browse while also supporting the old layout for the grizzled old-timers who refuse to switch. Makes sense to me.

    23 votes
    1. JRandomHacker
      Link Parent
      There was a really funny/sad pair of comments I saw on the orangesite about the sticky header that went something like:

      The community has a fit about every redesign that comes their way (regardless of its utility)

      There was a really funny/sad pair of comments I saw on the orangesite about the sticky header that went something like:

      I hate sticky headers. Why would anybody in their right mind ever want a sticky header? Who approved this design?

      Literally here is the survey they conducted showing that using the sticky header was preferred by users by a pretty significant margin

      9 votes
    2. [2]
      Omnicrola
      Link Parent
      Long long ago I developed the habit of any time I pulled up a WP article that I intended to more than skim, I would immediately undock the window and make it half-width. It's quick and easy and...

      Wikipedia's readability has always been hampered by its excessive width.

      Long long ago I developed the habit of any time I pulled up a WP article that I intended to more than skim, I would immediately undock the window and make it half-width. It's quick and easy and I've done it for so long it never even occurred to me to look for an alternative solution. WP is just so.... basic to me in both it's form and it's ubiquity, I think of it like I think of my house utilities. It just ... is what it is.

      Really like this new design though.

      4 votes
      1. Bauke
        Link Parent
        For the longest time I used Wikipedia at 150% zoom because it made everything so much more readable, now with the redesign I've set it back to 100% and it's wonderful.

        For the longest time I used Wikipedia at 150% zoom because it made everything so much more readable, now with the redesign I've set it back to 100% and it's wonderful.

        3 votes
  2. 0x29A
    Link
    I enjoy the new design. Instantly feels more readable and comfortable to my eyes. A barely noticeable redesign is a good thing. It means they didn't choose form over function and just splash on a...

    I enjoy the new design. Instantly feels more readable and comfortable to my eyes.

    A barely noticeable redesign is a good thing. It means they didn't choose form over function and just splash on a new coat of paint for no reason.

    The time spent and the changes being incremental shows that it was treated with care, as a site with millions of readers and contributors should be treated

    10 votes
  3. [5]
    petrichor
    Link
    The old skin can be used by appending ?useskin=vector to any url.

    The old skin can be used by appending ?useskin=vector to any url.

    9 votes
    1. [4]
      aphoenix
      Link Parent
      In addition, you can also log in and set a preference.

      ?useskin=vector

      In addition, you can also log in and set a preference.

      5 votes
      1. [3]
        petrichor
        Link Parent
        I don't have a Wikipedia account and also browse a fair amount in incognito mode - so I threw together a little userscript that may be helpful to others. It should work for...
        • Exemplary

        I don't have a Wikipedia account and also browse a fair amount in incognito mode - so I threw together a little userscript that may be helpful to others. It should work for Grease/Tamper/ViolentMonkey.

        // ==UserScript==
// @match *://*.wikipedia.org/*
// @run-at document-start
// ==/UserScript==

if (!window.location.href.includes("useskin")) {
    window.location.replace(window.location.href.concat("?useskin=vector"));
}
        8 votes
        1. aphoenix
          Link Parent
          Perfect! And in case anyone wants any of the other options, you can change select any of the other skins they have by changing the skin being used into: vector-2022 preview vector preview minerva...

          Perfect!

          And in case anyone wants any of the other options, you can change select any of the other skins they have by changing the skin being used into:

          4 votes
        2. teaearlgraycold
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Maybe use new URLSearchParams for maximum compatibility. Edit: // ==UserScript== // @match *://*.wikipedia.org/* // @run-at document-start // ==/UserScript== var params = new...

          Maybe use new URLSearchParams for maximum compatibility.

          Edit:

          // ==UserScript==
// @match *://*.wikipedia.org/*
// @run-at document-start
// ==/UserScript==

var params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);

if (!params.has("useskin")) {
    params.set("useskin", "vector");
    window.location.search = params.toString();
}

          I haven't tested the above on wikipedia so please let me know if something is wrong.

          3 votes
  4. drannex
    Link
    This is great! I set Vector as my default theme years ago and never understood why they didn't just use it as the default, it's a lot cleaner, but keeps the primary look of Wikipedia.

    This is great! I set Vector as my default theme years ago and never understood why they didn't just use it as the default, it's a lot cleaner, but keeps the primary look of Wikipedia.

    7 votes
  5. unknown user
    Link
    Anyone got a napkin? I need to wipe off all this vitriol. "This is barely news, but we need to cover it at length in order to attract eyeballs, so... uh... let's make sure people know we're cool...

    Anyone got a napkin? I need to wipe off all this vitriol.

    "This is barely news, but we need to cover it at length in order to attract eyeballs, so... uh... let's make sure people know we're cool and hip about how we're also not sure how much value this has!"

    Wikipedia Has Spent Years on a Barely Noticeable Redesign

    And yet here I am catching myself thinking "Oh hell, it's gonna be an interesting process unlearning basic Wikipedia navigation when it comes to (now hidden under a dropdown at the top right) list of languages". Being bilingual (and also periodically checking outside languages), I found the fact that Wiki condenses the language list to the most interesting few very interesting.

    2 votes