User:SGrabarczuk (WMF)/sandbox/1

Desktop Improvements will soon be available!

An annotated screenshot of the new interface

Hello,

We are happy to announce that the Desktop Improvements will be deployed on your wiki in less than two weeks. The interface will be adjusted to the needs of the community and readers of your wiki.

How would the change work?

• All new features will be visible by default.
• These are changes for Vector only (it's the default skin), which means that all users of Monobook or other skins will not see the difference.
• Those who prefer to keep the current Vector view will be able to do so via a link in the sidebar or using their user preferences - our refined interface will be Vector, and the unchanged Vector will be called Legacy Vector.
• We will not change the article content (as marked on the screenshot to the right), and we will not remove any functionality (our plan is to rearrange and improve them).

What changes are we going to introduce?

In less than two weeks, we will deploy:

• A smaller header. This will allow us to later make the header sticky and visible all the time (without needing to scroll up).
• A collapsible sidebar. It will make it easier not to get distracted when reading.
• Limited width for articles. This will allow users to read more quickly and lead to better retention of the text itself. This functionality will not affect the Special pages.
• Improved search widget with images and descriptions for each suggested page.
• Improved link colors wchich will make links more easy to notice.

• 
  Smaller header
• 
  Collapsible sidebar
• 
  Limited width
• 
  Search in the new location
• 
  Search with images and descriptions
• 
  Link colors

You can learn more about the following changes.

Gadgets' compatibility

With these changes, some existing gadgets and user scripts might need to be updated or might become redundant or obsolete. We will provide support for users who would like to maintain the compatibility.

How can you participate?

• [Everyone] Share your feedback! What do you like? What would you like to see changed? Some preferences are known already, since our changes are based on data: research and community feedback. But there's still a lot of details to refine!
• [Tech-oriented] Report bugs and follow our messages about gadgets and scripts which would need to be updated to maintain compatibility.
• [Translators] Translate the documentation on MediaWiki.org.

Thank you!