Even though I desinged the "standard" skin for wikipedia, I think Marian's "Cologne Blue" skin looks way better.
I hereby suggest that "Cologne Blue" becomes the standard skin. New software, new server - a new standard skin comes natural ;)
Everyone, please, go to www.wikipedia.com (or beta.wikipedia.com, if the former is unavailable again), log in and turn on "Cologne Blue" in your preferences. I suggest sidebar on the left, but that's up to you;)
CB (for short) not only looks better, it is less *technical*, thus not scaring away non-techie newcomers. The first look at a site often decides if one hits the back button. So, either have the current skin, designed for easy implementation, or CB, created by a professional designer!
Let me hear some opinions.
Magnus
All three work ok on my Notepad, but only Standard gives a transparent "preferences" link. On Cologne Blue until I thought a bit, was worried I was stuck in it. Rather you didn't change, but now since I am so practiced up on it, changing preference is just a few seconds.
Fred Bauder
At 08:38 PM 7/15/02 +0200, you wrote:
Even though I desinged the "standard" skin for wikipedia, I think Marian's "Cologne Blue" skin looks way better.
I hereby suggest that "Cologne Blue" becomes the standard skin. New software, new server - a new standard skin comes natural ;)
Everyone, please, go to www.wikipedia.com (or beta.wikipedia.com, if the former is unavailable again), log in and turn on "Cologne Blue" in your preferences. I suggest sidebar on the left, but that's up to you;)
CB (for short) not only looks better, it is less *technical*, thus not scaring away non-techie newcomers. The first look at a site often decides if one hits the back button. So, either have the current skin, designed for easy implementation, or CB, created by a professional designer!
Let me hear some opinions.
Magnus
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Cologne Blue is really nice. I have a few reservations about it though: * it's a pity it doesn't include the Wikipedia logo * It could be just habit, but I was lost in the sidebar. Lots of Windows95-style "My Settings" and "My Page" etc. It took me ages to find "diff". Like I said, that could be habit. * lastly, and most importantly it's hard to read because it uses a sans serif font. For encyclopedia articles with large blocks of text, legibility is very important. I've just switched back to default because I was finding it hard to focus, & my reading speed has increased immediately.
Overall, it's a super layout, much more welcoming & less "techy"-feeling than the default.
tarquin
Magnus Manske wrote:
Let me hear some opinions.
Magnus
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tarquin wrote:
Cologne Blue is really nice. I have a few reservations about it though:
- it's a pity it doesn't include the Wikipedia logo
- It could be just habit, but I was lost in the sidebar. Lots of
Windows95-style "My Settings" and "My Page" etc. It took me ages to find "diff". Like I said, that could be habit.
- lastly, and most importantly it's hard to read because it uses a
sans serif font. For encyclopedia articles with large blocks of text, legibility is very important. I've just switched back to default because I was finding it hard to focus, & my reading speed has increased immediately.
Overall, it's a super layout, much more welcoming & less "techy"-feeling than the default.
tarquin
It's a lovely layout, but it's missing some usability engineering. I agree that we should shift to something as well designed as this, but please let's not make it the default skin just yet.
When we have server logs from the 'new' Wikipedia, we can consider doing some optimisation, and then releasing a tuned version.
Neil
Neil Harris wrote:
tarquin wrote:
Cologne Blue is really nice. I have a few reservations about it though:
- it's a pity it doesn't include the Wikipedia logo
- It could be just habit, but I was lost in the sidebar. Lots of
Windows95-style "My Settings" and "My Page" etc. It took me ages to find "diff". Like I said, that could be habit.
- lastly, and most importantly it's hard to read because it uses a
sans serif font. For encyclopedia articles with large blocks of text, legibility is very important. I've just switched back to default because I was finding it hard to focus, & my reading speed has increased immediately.
Overall, it's a super layout, much more welcoming & less "techy"-feeling than the default.
tarquin
It's a lovely layout, but it's missing some usability engineering. I agree that we should shift to something as well designed as this, but please let's not make it the default skin just yet.
When we have server logs from the 'new' Wikipedia, we can consider doing some optimization, and then releasing a tuned version.
Neil
It's all very nice, but most human users are creatures of habit. There comes a point in the face of rapid technological development when you just don't want to learn any more. When I went to Netscape 6, I immediately switched the appearance back to the classic presentation. I also consistently use the File Manager from Dos 3.2. Better looks do not justify the loss of familiarity. Eclecticology
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