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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.


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  • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by RS3 on Monday January 23 2023, @07:03PM (1 child)

    by RS3 (6367) on Monday January 23 2023, @07:03PM (#1288233)

    Maybe a CSS issue?

    Or maybe your browser had to download and install a new font or character set?

    I don't mean to be a shill for Vivaldi, but I recently discovered a tiny icon at the right-hand side of the URL slot: it toggles between normal and "reader" mode. It's pretty cool. Not sure if other browsers have that, but they should promote that feature more. It cleans up everything, enlarges the font, does what it advertises.

    <ctrl> - scroll wheel zooms in and out on most browsers.

    Also there's usually a "fit to width" function somewhere, but sometimes CSS will override that.

    My sort of main browser, "Old Opera" (12.18 Presto, not chrome-based), allows me to disable CSS on a page by choosing "View -> Style -> User Mode". It can be configured globally off too.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2023, @02:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2023, @02:25PM (#1288358)

    Fortunately Firefox has pocket built-in and enabled by default... said nobody ever.