Wikipedia is a famous online encyclopedia, which is free to use. Millions of volunteers from all over the world work to create and edit the content on the platform. Since its initial release some twenty years ago, Wikipedia has become an integral part of our digital world. The minute a query rises in our minds and we put it in our search browser, Wikipedia spins out all the information we need in a jiffy.
Wikipedia’s web page is heavily texted with a lot of information. The fonts and the overall look make it appear exactly like an encyclopedia in the form of a book, and it remains the same whether we look at the desktop web or from a mobile screen. It is deliberately kept as boring, crammed with all the over-flowing information with loads of hyperlinks, text, sub-text, etc. But now, the parent foundation of the platform, Wikimedia has recently announced to bring some changes in the overall look of the Wikipedia web page, to make the site more approachable and easily accessible for the new users.
All the proposed new features are quite interesting, a new ‘Table of contents’ feature in the top-right corner will allow the users to quickly go to the section they came looking for, and to avoid anything that they find irrelevant to their search. In the current version, you can see ‘Contents’ right under the initial description or introduction, but it is also heavily texted. The new’ Table of contents’ is just like a simple index without any details or section numbers. So, this is going to improve the overall readability of the web page for new as well as existing users.
Then, there is going to be a collapsible sidebar on the left-hand side of the page. The users will be allowed to collapse the menu on the left side whenever they want or open it according to their wish. This will minimize distractions and will restrict the users from seeing irrelevant stuff so they can maintain their focus on what they want to read about rather than getting distracted.
Another change that is coming is the addition of a one-click button to switch language for a page that the user is looking into. So, there will be no need to go through the language menu and all that hassle, as it is just going to become far easier than before with this new button.
Some improvements to the in-site search tool will also be made and the card of reconfiguration of the logo is also on the tables. The proposal is to make the Wikipedia logo smaller in size for each Wikipedia page so that it is easier on the eyes of the readers.
According to the Wikimedia Foundation, all these changes and more will be added to the site on an incremental basis, over a long period. This will allow the users to test these features one by one, accept what they like, and let the site know about their dislikes through feedbacks. This is a better approach before the features officially roll-out by the end of 2021.
Read next: Gaming is Now a Bigger Expense for Children Than Candy and Books
Wikipedia’s web page is heavily texted with a lot of information. The fonts and the overall look make it appear exactly like an encyclopedia in the form of a book, and it remains the same whether we look at the desktop web or from a mobile screen. It is deliberately kept as boring, crammed with all the over-flowing information with loads of hyperlinks, text, sub-text, etc. But now, the parent foundation of the platform, Wikimedia has recently announced to bring some changes in the overall look of the Wikipedia web page, to make the site more approachable and easily accessible for the new users.
All the proposed new features are quite interesting, a new ‘Table of contents’ feature in the top-right corner will allow the users to quickly go to the section they came looking for, and to avoid anything that they find irrelevant to their search. In the current version, you can see ‘Contents’ right under the initial description or introduction, but it is also heavily texted. The new’ Table of contents’ is just like a simple index without any details or section numbers. So, this is going to improve the overall readability of the web page for new as well as existing users.
Then, there is going to be a collapsible sidebar on the left-hand side of the page. The users will be allowed to collapse the menu on the left side whenever they want or open it according to their wish. This will minimize distractions and will restrict the users from seeing irrelevant stuff so they can maintain their focus on what they want to read about rather than getting distracted.
Another change that is coming is the addition of a one-click button to switch language for a page that the user is looking into. So, there will be no need to go through the language menu and all that hassle, as it is just going to become far easier than before with this new button.
Some improvements to the in-site search tool will also be made and the card of reconfiguration of the logo is also on the tables. The proposal is to make the Wikipedia logo smaller in size for each Wikipedia page so that it is easier on the eyes of the readers.
According to the Wikimedia Foundation, all these changes and more will be added to the site on an incremental basis, over a long period. This will allow the users to test these features one by one, accept what they like, and let the site know about their dislikes through feedbacks. This is a better approach before the features officially roll-out by the end of 2021.
Read next: Gaming is Now a Bigger Expense for Children Than Candy and Books
