Reading/Web/Desktop Improvements

It has been 10 years since the current default Wikimedia skin (Vector) was deployed. Over the last decade, the interface has been enriched with extensions, gadgets and user scripts. Most of these were not coordinated visually or cross-wiki. At the same time, web design, as well as the expectations of readers and editors, have evolved. We think it's time to take some of these ideas and bring them to the default experience of all users, on all wikis, in an organized, consistent way. Over the next couple of quarters, the readers web team will be researching and building out improvements to the desktop experience based on research and existing tools.

Our goals are to make Wikimedia wikis more welcoming and to increase the utility amongst readers and maintain utility for existing editors. We measure the increase of trust and positive sentiment towards our sites, and the utility of our sites (the usage of common actions such as search and language switching).

Currently, on most wikis, only logged-in users are able to opt-in individually. On selected wikis, our changes are deployed for all by default, and logged-in users are able to opt-out. We are hoping to increase the set of early adopter wikis gradually, until our improvements are default on all wikis in 2021.

Currently, the interface…
''' …doesn't match the expectations. …is cluttered and not intuitive. …doesn't highlight the community side. …isn't consistent with the mobile version. '''


 * 1) The desktop interface does not match the expectations created by the modern web platforms. It feels disorienting and disconnected. Navigation and interface links are organized haphazardly.
 * 2) There is clutter that distracts users from focusing on what they came for. It is challenging for readers to focus on the content. It is not possible for them to intuitively switch languages, search for content, or adjust reading settings. New editors are unable to use their intuition to set up their account, open the editor, or learn how to use non-article pages for moderation purposes.
 * 3) A very small percentage of readers understand how Wikimedia wikis function. Many readers are not aware that the content they are reading is written by volunteers and updated frequently, or that they can potentially contribute as well.
 * 4) The large difference in experiences among our desktop interface, apps, and the mobile web, makes it difficult for readers to connect our products. There is a lack of unity in the concept of Wikimedia sites.

Principles
''' We do not touch the content. We do not remove any functionality. We are inspired by the existing gadgets. We do not make major changes in single steps. We do not touch skins other than Vector. '''


 * 1) We are working on the interface only. No work will be done in terms of styling templates, the structure of page contents, map support, or cross-wiki templates.
 * 2) Elements of the interface might move around, but all navigational items and other functionality currently available by default will remain.
 * 3) We have analysed many wikis and have noticed many useful gadgets. Some of them definitely deserve to be surfaced and be a part of default experience.
 * 4) Though our changes are easily noticeable, we are taking an evolutionary approach and want the site to continue feeling familiar to readers and editors. Each feature is discussed, developed, and deployed separately.
 * 5) Skins other than Vector are out of the scope of our adjustments. We have frozen Vector to Legacy Vector, and begun deploying our features as parts of the new default Vector.

Deployment plan and timeline
''' Test our features individually,   share feedback,   and join our early adopter wikis! '''


 * 1) It is our intention to test our improvements in collaboration with a diverse set of volunteering early adopter wikis, both Wikipedias and sister projects.
 * 2) Both prior to development and after deployment, we collect data (via A/B testing, prototype feedback rounds, etc.). In the case of significantly negative results, we will roll back our changes.
 * 3) First three features (the new header, collapsible sidebar, and limiting content width) were deployed in July 2020.
 * 4) Our second large feature, an improved search widget, was deployed to early adopter wikis in February, 2021.
 * 5) We are hoping to increase the set of early adopter wikis gradually, until our improvements are default on all wikis in early 2022.

List of early adopter wikis (test wikis)
First group of wikis (marked as ◇ on the timeline above):
 * eu:
 * fr:
 * 
 * he:
 * fa:
 * 
 * Office Wiki

Second group of wikis (marked as ◇◇ on the timeline above):


 * bn:
 * 
 * ko:
 * pt:
 * sr:
 * tr:
 * vec:
 * Wikimedia Incubator

Third group of wikis (marked as ◇◇◇ on the timeline above):


 * ary:
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * th:
 * vi:
 * 
 * MediaWiki wiki
 * Wikimedia Foundation Governance wiki
 * Collab wiki
 * Strategy wiki

What features will be added
We have not created a complete, detailed product specification. Each feature is built and implemented separately, over time. Features which have been created are still being adjusted and improved. Our decisions are based on community feedback, user testing, and extracted API data.