Wikipedia’s Beta: Pretty Yet Petty
So Wikipedia is launching a new “beta” version of the site, designed to ultimately stimulate usability amongst Wikipedians. Overall, the new look is pretty and intuitive, but doesn’t bring as much to the table as it should.
Design
Design-wise, it’s the Web 2.0 look and feel that Wikipedia’s been begging for all along. The nice new fading lines and clean interface is a major overhaul from the old design, which had menus reminiscent of Microsoft Office Word 2005.
They did a good job with the design, and the tabs are relocated to better suit editing. Good job there.
Search
What happened?! After clicking through the “use beta” message to enter my journey into the new design, the first thing I was going to (and that I always do first on the site) is hit the search bar and find an article I was looking for when – well, where did it go?
They moved it all the way to the top-right of the page, instead of the almost-halfway-down-the-left-sidebar placement it’s had since 200 B.C.
What the hell?! My mouse seems to automatically move itself over to the left as soon as the page loads, only now I have to drag it all the way back to the top right. What an inconvenience! Did they not take that into account?
And one more thing: Why doesn’t the cursor automatically populate the search input, a la Google? I’ve wanted to submit a patch to the Wiki software just for this, personally, because with that a page could load and I could search instantly – no mouse movement.
But since it makes too much sense, it won’t happen.
AJAX? Negative.
And way to not use AJAX, o might Wikipedians. Now we still have to wait for the “edit” page to load just to make a quick change.
And don’t bitch about accessibility – plenty of AJAX sites fall back on static-HTML while providing AJAX love to the 98% of AJAX-enabled web users. But I shouldn’t hold my breath in that department – Wikipedia feels the need to cater to about 20 different languages.
I don’t see a simple AJAX patch happening any time soon.
The New Editor
The edit page for all editable articles is prettier and the retard-size icons make a great improvement for those whom may have left their coke-bottle glasses at the office.
Need something other than the three giant icons at the top of the editor? Gonna have to open up a drop down toolbar for that. Seriously, couldn’t you learn something from WordPress about HTML text editors?
And I still don’t see that WYSIWYG editor, either. How are those JavaScript tutorials coming along there, army-of-one Mediawiki programmer?
Conclusion
Yawn. It looks pretty and all Web 2.0, but they are still lacking improvements that should have been in place oh, say, 2007?
I mean, technologies like AJAX and even simple JavaScript are fully hardened and accessibility-hardened by now, so get on the bandwagon would you?
Then again, the Slashdot editor-in-chief complained that the very first iPod didn’t have WiFi, a camera, and more storage space (and when it did/will, people go nuts), so maybe I’m alone on this one.
But there’s definitely still plently of room for improvement. Way to update yourself to 2006 standards, Wikipedia.
To be fair wikipedia’s previous skin (now known as classic) has the search bar in the top right rather than the almost-halfway-down-the-left-sidebar and was in use as late as 84AD.
Humorous? Snarky != humorous.
Here’s what this story lacked: background. The Usability Initiative was made possible by a grant from the Ruth & Frank Stanton Fund. Guess what was one of the first things on which the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) expended that grant money? Office space for the new code developers that would be hired! Well, WMF founder Jimmy Wales’ privately-held corporation, Wikia, Inc., has been hitting quite a few potholes lately (laying off staff, shutting down the failed “Wikia Search” debacle, etc.). So, when they heard that the WMF (on whose Board of Trustees, Wales also sits) would be hiring code developers that the WMF headquarters on Stillman Street didn’t have space for, Wikia presented a sub-lease bid to the WMF. It wasn’t the lowest bid, not by a long-shot. But, the WMF really, really, really, really wanted to get some of that tax-advantaged Stanton cash into Jimbo’s pocket somehow, so they ASKED WIKIA IF THEY MIGHT KINDLY RE-BID, so that their price might at least be in line with the average of all bids received. Since Wikia is apparently in such dire financial straits, and they had all that office space sitting around, since they recently laid off a significant portion of their paid workforce, Wikia capitulated and lowered their price a bit. Heck, it was still free money, right?
Now, when someone like me asked how this is not self-dealing, or at least gives the impression of self-dealing, I was shouted down as a “disgruntled troll”. I wonder if someone in the news media might pick up the ball and run with it? It does seem very strange that the same “disgruntled former employee” excuse was trotted out when people began asking questions about Jimbo’s Moscow expense reimbursements and why he called in favors to get Rachel Marsden’s biography edited. Hmm… Any journalists around here?
Maybe you should report these flaws to developers. When you use beta interface, you get “Beta feedback” button up.
You should try it, if you really want more enhancements.
The wiki can’t automatically focus the cursor in the search box, as people who use arrow keys to scroll will instead pop up autotext in the search field. Logged in users can change this with a checkbox in their preferences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Main_Page_FAQ#Why_doesn.27t_the_cursor_appear_in_the_search_box.2C_like_with_Google.3F