Hello!
> I don't have a strong opinion myself, but the current tendency is to show all the boxes rather than just a few, as it is now.
First: Great idea to optimize the main page for mobile :) The normal
>This begs the question - is it really good for mobile readers?
Just my personal point of view: The Main page is the page the users normally see the first time when navigating to Wikipedia. So, this page is the basis for the first feeling of the user, so why not give the "Boah!" feeling, or at least a "ok, looks good" on mobile as well as on desktop? Sure, much people navigating to Wikipedia through a search engine, but i think much people go to Wikipedia directly, too.
> Is there a difference between mobile main page traffic in the app and in the mobile web?
Sorry, this i can't answer with measurment data, but i think the main page is more popular in the app, because you ever start with this page when you start the app (what is normal if you use the app instead of the browser, i think).
> Are there any known good practices for mobile main page design?
Best practices and how to otimize the main page, you can find here:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:MobileFrontend#Configuring_the_main_page
And (better) for Wikipedia administrators:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Mobile_Gateway/Mobile_homepage_formatting
I must say it: The Main page of my home wikipedia (german language) has a fully optimized Main page, maybe it helps you, to decide how to optimize your main page:
Mobile Main Page Wikipedia Deutsch
Desktop Main Page Wikipedia Deutsch
> Finally, what is the plan for the future development of the main page? The current software still uses HTML ids like "mp-tfa"; is there a plan to change it?
That i can't answer :/ The plan is to go away from special handling the main page if i understand some comments right. But for the "master" plan i think some mobile team member can help you more :)
Hope that helps you!
Freundliche Grüße / Kind regards
Florian
Von: mobile-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:mobile-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] Im Auftrag von Amir E. Aharoni
Gesendet: Freitag, 8. August 2014 02:07
An: mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Betreff: [WikimediaMobile] Main page - good practices, future plans
Hi,
The Hebrew Wikipedia community is questioning the current design of the Mobile main page, and this raises some questions about the mobile main page design for all languages.
I don't have a strong opinion myself, but the current tendency is to show all the boxes rather than just a few, as it is now.
This begs the question - is it really good for mobile readers?
For example, is the mobile main page very popular at all, or is there much more traffic to the articles?
Is there a difference between mobile main page traffic in the app and in the mobile web?
Are there any known good practices for mobile main page design?
Finally, what is the plan for the future development of the main page? The current software still uses HTML ids like "mp-tfa"; is there a plan to change it?
Thanks!
--
Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי
“We're living in pieces,
I want to live in peace.” – T. Moore