Reading/Web/Desktop Improvements/Outreach


 * Note: the bold section will only go out to a small number of wikis, for now

Greetings. The readers web team at the WMF has committed to making some improvements to the desktop interface over the next couple of years with the goal of increasing usability without removing any functionality. We have been inspired by changes made by volunteers, but that currently only exist as local gadgets and user scripts, prototypes, and volunteer-led skins. We would like to begin the process of bringing some of these changes into the default experience on all Wikimedia projects.

We are currently in the research stage of this project, but we believe that we will soon be ready to begin testing features.

'''We think this wiki would be a good candidate to be one of our first wikis. If the community here agrees, this would mean that you will:''' '''We encourage discussion on this. Feel free to ask us any questions here or on the project talk page about details.'''
 * Have a tighter feedback-loop and significant input on the shape of the desktop experience
 * Get improvements and new features significantly before other projects
 * All users will be able to opt out of the changes on an individual basis.

We are especially interested in receiving individual feedback on the following:

When giving feedback, please consider the following goals of the project:
 * Identifying focus areas for the project we have not yet discovered
 * Expanding the list of current and past gadgets and user scripts that are related to providing a better desktop experience. If you can think of some of these from your wiki, please let us know
 * Feedback on the ideas and mockups we have collected so far


 * Focus on the content
 * Provide easier access to everyday actions (e.g. search, language switching, editing)
 * Put things in logical and useful places
 * Increase consistency in the interface with other platforms - mobile web and the apps
 * Eliminate clutter
 * Plan for future growth

As well as the following constraints:


 * Not touching the content - no work will be done in terms of styling templates or to the structure of page contents themselves
 * Not removing any functionality - things might move around, but all navigational items and other functionality currently available by default will remain
 * No drastic changes to the layout - we're taking an evolutionary approach to the changes and want the site to continue feeling familiar to readers and editors

Please leave all feedback on the talk page of our project page at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Reading/Web/Desktop_Improvements

After this round of feedback, we plan on building a prototype of suggested changes based on the feedback we receive. You’ll hear from us again asking for feedback on this prototype.

Thank you. ~