Wikipedia talk:2008 main page redesign proposal/Futurebird

About this design
I've made a stripped down version of the main page. The idea behind this is that we don't need anything on the main page that is already on the left side bar. For this reason I removed: Languages, help links, and a few other things. I do think the main page should have some content, but it should be minimal. This helps people to "see" the content more, so this new main page has "Featured pictures" and "featured articles" but I have shortened both of these sections. I took out the news, and the DYK sections, they could be added back, I don't feel strongly about that, but I think when we have too much content on the main page it all sort of cancels itself out. Let's give the featured article and picture the lion's share of the attention-- these are two features that showcase our best work and that motivate people to contribute high quality content. Lastly, I felt that the main page should look more like a regular article. So I removed the boxes and frames from around the content. The result is simple and it will work well on even the smallest computer screens.

I could use some help with the header, I didn't think it needed changing so I have not modified it. But, suggestions are welcome, also if you want to make a copy of my design and tweak it. please do! futurebird (talk) 17:34, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

DYK
Where would the DYK go? People work hard for them and some people, myself included like to read them. -- Cheers mate! C YCLONIC W HIRLWIND talk 17:53, 6 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Is there any way to reduce the text in that section? Or reduce the number of entries? What if we had just one a day? Or if we had a set for each day and they would show up randomly. Right now there are seven. futurebird (talk) 18:18, 6 July 2008 (UTC)


 * One a day? Do you know how many entries there are in T:TDYK? I should know as I review nominations and we would just have a very long backlog if we only used one a day? Even in our current process, we still update it every few hours. --  RyRy  ( talk ) 21:00, 6 July 2008 (UTC)


 * One at a time then, you could have it so that you get a new one on the refresh. futurebird (talk) 21:01, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Simple
This design is quite simple, just like other Wikipedia pages. This could be the way to go, but I would think we need something special for the main page.   A R  TYOM    21:30, 6 July 2008 (UTC)


 * The content is what makes it special. Or at least that's what I'm going for here. The "design" should just fade away and not be noticeable. futurebird (talk) 21:55, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

The first impression is everything to a user, and when I see that I don't get a very good impression. I can see your motivation behind the design, but there needs to be some sort of "flare" to get people to read what's on the main page, otherwise they won't even bother. This just looks like another article to me, and maybe that's what you were going for, but I don't believe that's what we need for the home page. Sorry. — Fatal Error 18:37, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Left column
Futurebird, I keep coming back to this one. It is so clean and I admire your effort to simplify. How short do you think the main page can be when the languages in the left column extend down so far? —SusanLesch (talk) 05:51, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

This is what I'm looking for
It's nice to see at least one design not beholden to the idea that we have to have those big damn ugly cluttered "did you know", "featured article" boxes. This page should be for the reader, not for the editor. Bravo! --Allemandtando (talk) 22:12, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Minimalism
This page is really refreshing, it keeps coding and reading to a minimum. I like it, but I don't think this exemplifies enough of Wikipedia; we have over two-and-a-half-million articles with thousands of users, such a minimalist design takes it all out — it makes Wikipedia seem almost, empty (like a stub). In some respects it makes Wikipedia seem almost unwelcoming, like a lonely web page lost at sea. Nevertheless I agree that we should not reproduce what is already displayed, or at least place less emphasis on it. It would be great for mobile phones, and portable devices. I hope this makes it to the Main page alternatives. ChyranandChloe (talk) 02:38, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Nice.
Nice. I'd suggest that the short(!) text of FA be to the left while 'recent' & 'more' can be to the right. Shorter lines of text (within reason) = easier to read.

How about a row of "tabs" across the bottom, effectively Show/Hide, for DYK, 'sister', 'languages' and some of the (other) features you've left out? Plus perhaps Getting started info for potential editors? --Hordaland (talk) 10:21, 13 July 2008 (UTC)