[Foundation-l] hiding interlanguage links by default is a Bad Idea, part 2

[Victor Vasiliev]

On Sun, Jun 6, 2010 at 1:07 AM, Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> The original intent of the UX team, as I understand it, was to help
> readers find essential (frequently clicked) elements in the navigation
> more easily by collapsing less essential ones.

This is wrong approach of reworking sidebar. To do it correctly, you
have to prioritize existing things. Add icons to most important items
and move them to the top (random article is far more popular than
current events). Move toolbox to the bottom and, ensuring youself
before that most users don't use it, hide it for anonymous users only.
Move most probably used interwikis to the top (I'd volunteer for
coding this if I was sure I had enough spare time this summer). Add
language codes, they are much easier to understand and to look for in
a long list than a language name in language itself. Add more icons,
so things are distinguishable.

Oh, and no wonder that IW links are used less in Vector than in
Monobook. Monobook sidebar has clear division between blocks. Vector
has some loosy line between them. Also, in Vector sidebar elements are
on the grey background, so most people don't notice them. Honestly,
the set of blue links on the grey background is one of the worst thing
you may introduce to improve the usability of the sidebar.

--vvv