New Wikipedia homepage

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neb

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#3025913 23-Jan-2023 19:55

alexx:
I agree, it's a step backwards, but can be changed.

Preferences > Appearance > Skin

Select "Vector legacy (2010)" which should get you back to the old look.

Problem is you need to be logged in to do that. On every single computer and device you'd ever use Wikipedia on, which in effect is "all of them". I'm keeping an eye out for a browser plugin that'll rewrite the pages to a more useful format which I can drop on a few main systems I use.

And the most farcical thing about it is how it was sold to the public:

Wikipedia’s Redesign Is Barely Noticeable. That’s the Point.

Is there a Pulitzer Prize for Least Observant Journalist? I'd like to nominate Annie Rauwerda (the author of the piece) for it.

Edited to add: Just realised that Annie Rauwerda is a hardcore Wikipedia cheerleader, so having her write the Slate article is about as sound as having them ask Bulls**t Barbie (Kayleigh McEnany) to write a piece on Trump.

gzt

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#3025917 23-Jan-2023 20:26

Is this a good time to ask you all how much you donate monthly to the wikipedia foundation? ; )

Behodar

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#3025919 23-Jan-2023 20:29

I'd need to add up all my donations and then divide by the total months, and that takes effort!

neb

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#3025921 23-Jan-2023 20:33

gzt: Is this a good time to ask you all how much you donate monthly to the wikipedia foundation? ; )

I donate my time to them, fixing up articles.

neb

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#3025922 23-Jan-2023 20:42

Aaron2222:
Apparently they cache article pages for non logged-in users, and that cache might not be updated for a few days if the article hasn't changed.

Yup, just checked it on a popular and non-popular topic, popular is the new lets-waste-as-much-space-as-possible layout, non-popular is still the original. It's quite jarring tabbing from one to the other to see how much they've broken it.

yitz

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#3025932 23-Jan-2023 21:32

New layout reminded me of Encarta for some reason.

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quickymart

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#3025936 23-Jan-2023 22:03

I've probably donated about $25-$30 over the years, at a guess.

RedactedRetracted

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#3025947 23-Jan-2023 22:40

For those that are logged into Wikipedia, if you disable "Enable limited width mode" under the appearance settings, I've found that significantly improves the new design by removing a bunch of the unnecessary whitespace, while keeping the helpful QoL improvements (sticky contents section is a big plus for me).

Sadly it doesn't seem like this option is available if you're not logged in, which is a shame.

MikeAqua

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#3025988 24-Jan-2023 07:54

I thought Wikipedia were short of money. I wonder why they are spending their finite funds changing the home page?

Mike

K8Toledo

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#3026736 24-Jan-2023 22:23

quickymart:

What genius dreamed this one up? There was nothing wrong with the old layout - search bar at the top right, menu already loaded and ready to go on the left, and the font was bigger and easier to read.

No option to go back to the old layout either, sigh.

How are frequent Wikipedia users finding this? Is it an improvement to you, or am I alone in my criticism?

I hate it. The layout is counterintuitive.

K8Toledo

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#3026740 24-Jan-2023 22:46

RedactedRetracted:

For those that are logged into Wikipedia, if you disable "Enable limited width mode" under the appearance settings, I've found that significantly improves the new design by removing a bunch of the unnecessary whitespace, while keeping the helpful QoL improvements (sticky contents section is a big plus for me).

Sadly it doesn't seem like this option is available if you're not logged in, which is a shame.

Page width can be changed without logging in (see bottom right corner of screenshots).

Were you viewing from a mobile device as the default setting for desktops seems to be limited page width?

Limited (default for me) screenshots from my desktop.

Full (appears broken).

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Aaron2222

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#3026796 25-Jan-2023 00:54

K8Toledo:

Page width can be changed without logging in (see bottom right corner of screenshots).

Were you viewing from a mobile device as the default setting for desktops seems to be limited page width?

Must have just been added. Unfortunately it's not persistent, so you have to click it each time (or write a userscript or something).

K8Toledo

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#3026798 25-Jan-2023 01:10

Aaron2222:

K8Toledo:

Page width can be changed without logging in (see bottom right corner of screenshots).

Were you viewing from a mobile device as the default setting for desktops seems to be limited page width?

Must have just been added. Unfortunately it's not persistent, so you have to click it each time (or write a userscript or something).

No, it's not persistent but the default layout is limited width - for desktops at least. Isn't that what you wanted?

Limited width doesn't work well either because in landscape mode all that wasted white space means more scrolling.

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