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posted by janrinok on Monday January 23 2023, @10:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the we-need-more-whitespace dept.

Wikipedia has released their new layout, which unsurprisingly includes whitespace bars on either side, justified by the claim "most people prefer a column 60-80 characters wide" (although it's not that extreme).

The changes being introduced are not very dramatic — in fact, they may not even be immediately noticed by some users. The organization, however, says the update was necessary in order to meet the needs of the next generation of internet users, including those who are more newly coming online and may have less familiarity with the internet.

To develop the new interface, the foundation engaged with more than 30 different volunteer groups from around the world, with users in places like India, Indonesia, Ghana and Argentina, among others, all helping to test the update and provide insights into the product development. The goal for the update was to make Wikipedia more of a modern web platform, it said, and to remove clutter, while also making it easier for users to contribute. It additionally aimed to make the desktop web version more consistent with Wikipedia's mobile counterpart.

It is possible to go back to the old layout, if you log in to the site and set it in your preferences.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 4, Disagree) by theluggage on Monday January 23 2023, @01:43PM (5 children)

    by theluggage (1797) on Monday January 23 2023, @01:43PM (#1288172)

    Reality is that websites today really do have to work with various sizes of mobile phones and tablets as well as traditional large screen computers - so some design compromise is necessary. Having totally different mobile and desktop UIs isn't ideal, either. I'll use a "proper computer" when I can but I'd like to be able to browse Wikipedia on my phone too.

    Compared with much modern "content free" web design from people who seem to think everything is an advertising hoarding and punters will run away if they see more than 128 characters on a screen, the new Wikipedia looks quite good. More than 60 characters per line is for editing code...

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Reziac on Tuesday January 24 2023, @02:24AM (4 children)

    by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday January 24 2023, @02:24AM (#1288291) Homepage

    You don't have to design one-size-fits-all. There exist text-flow functions that will automagically reset the CSS for screen size. Design once, let the site flow however the device dictates.

    --
    And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday January 24 2023, @03:26AM (3 children)

      by RS3 (6367) on Tuesday January 24 2023, @03:26AM (#1288302)

      Could that be in a browser plugin?

      For the sites I admin I use a WordPress plugin that does some powerful site cleanup for phones and tablets, and generally detects and adapts to screen resolution.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Reziac on Tuesday January 24 2023, @05:01AM (2 children)

        by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday January 24 2023, @05:01AM (#1288311) Homepage

        I think it's something from Bootstrap, at least on a site where I'm staff (but not that end of things) I recall seeing that go by.

        My job there is mostly to break things, and I found our pages reflowed fine from 300px wide to your-screen-is-HOW-big?

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
        • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday January 24 2023, @05:21AM (1 child)

          by RS3 (6367) on Tuesday January 24 2023, @05:21AM (#1288316)

          "staff" ... hmm. Sounds septic and pathological. You might want to get that checked out. They do make pills for those problems.

          • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday January 24 2023, @06:02AM

            by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday January 24 2023, @06:02AM (#1288329) Homepage

            LOL, I will let the boss know. :D

            --
            And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.