Ah, Wikipedia. The digital encyclopedia has been around for nearly 20 years and remains a primary source of information. It’s the best place to begin any important research. Even though it can be edited by just about anyone. There’s something so comforting about searching keywords on Wikipedia and zoning out. It’s how we’ve retained so much information in this, the Information Age. And part of that comfort comes from the simple website layout that Wikipedia has had for a decade now.
Wikipedia
But all good things must come to an end. According to The Verge, Wikipedia on desktop is getting a makeover to make the site more approachable to new viewers. (We have no idea who these “new viewers” are, but they must be young.) A post on MediaWiki lays out all of the proposed new features; everything from logo reconfiguration to a new collapsible sidebar to search widget moves and more. Things are about to look very different in the land of Wiki.
The first roll out is the collapsible sidebar. This is meant to let users avoid distractions as they read a page’s full body text.
Wikipedia
The MediaWiki page has a number of helpful animated GIFs that show these new changes in detail. This helps get a better sense of what the pages will look like when they’re all rolled out. Luckily, the changes aren’t too jarring; there are no colors or wild fonts coming to jazz up your basic Wikipedia pages, so rest easy.
Wikipedia
In a blog post, the Wikipedia Foundation wrote that the new features will be revealed “incrementally over a long period of time.” This will allow users to test out new features before they’re officially unveiled. If all goes according to plan, all of the new Wikipedia features will be in place by the end of 2021.
What do you think of these new features?
Featured Image: Wikipedia
