User blog comment:Susanolivia/Experience the new Wikia/@comment-93604-20100925120341

More ideas. I suggest creating a flexible-width option where the wiki admins decide what width, or width range to use for content space. If ads are only in the side column, top, and bottom, then Wikia should not care what the admins of a wiki decide concerning the width of content space.

Wikia decides what width it needs in the side column. Admins decide how much of the remaining space to use for content space. Everybody is happy. I suggest alternating ads with Wikia promos down the sidebar. This way different ads can be used, and no space is wasted. Have the ads follow the reader down the page partway until a new set of ads and Wikia promos show up.

Concerning Transition guide. It says "It's always important that the top headings give links to the things that your visitors are most likely to be looking for. This is your chance to capture their attention and get them reading your content!"

Each wiki has already put a lot of thought into what its readers might be interested in, and the site navigation menus can't be done according to any single formula such as the one written up in the transition guide. As the phrase goes, "The customer is always right." The customers are the editors and the readers.

Google made a similar mistake as Wikia may be doing. Google tried to impose new, slower-to-load formats on their home page. Many people complained, and suggested that the new formats be made an option. Google ignored them. So many people started using other search engines on their home page. Google learned their lesson and later decided to give people more choices. Google returned their super-fast, plain home page without fade in, and then made it faster with "Google Instant." Those people who preferred cluttered portals as a search home still got their preferred format, and got Google Instant as an option too.