User blog comment:Sannse/Your First Look at the New Wikia/@comment-1705800-20100820000538

I believe it is time for me to throw in my two cents.

I honestly think the people who are whining about the new skin are just upset that it'll take time to get used to it. Everyone's used to Monoco, but I'm sure when that was new, everyone hated it as well. It's just that people naturally are upset when something that's remained constant suddenly changes.

However, I'm not saying I enjoy this new style. I think it'd be much easier, simpler, and over-all more "people-pleasing" to enhance Monoco with different tweaks instead of creating a whole new look.

I suppose I like the idea of the toolbar on the bottom - if you're just scanning through in article you wouldn't need to scroll all the way back to the top just to edit it. However, I do not like the idea of a "Like" button. The "Share" was a bit of a stretch as it. I quote an earlier poster: "WIKIA IS NOT FACEBOOK."

I also am not too fond of the "notifications" thing. For people that get 10 messages a day on their talk page, it might be an improvement, but on the WordGirl Wiki I'm lucky to get a message a week, and I think it's more convenient to just have a message appear on the top of the page.

Also, the "logo". Are the words "Backyard Jungle" on the top of the page with the leaves all around, is that supposed to be the logo? The WordGirl Wiki just recently got a new logo, and we're very fond of it. Many other Wikis have logos they cherish and make sure looks good. The space there does not look big enough to hold our current logos, and our logos are some of the most definitive things about our Wiki. At least our favicons will probably be the same.

However, the skins. It goes without saying people will be furious about how there's no way the skins will be able to be carried over to the new look. Other Wikians slaved away making their skins, and they are not going to be happy with this.

As well as everyone else, I don't like the huge WIKIA! ENTERTAINMENT! GAMING! bar at the top. Too much to detract from the actual page. On the contrary, it's much easier to use the "Previous Wikis" widget to navigate Wikia.

We really can't tell that much at the moment. Remember, this is a prototype. The finished version will most likely be very different, and we can hope that the BetaTesters will all give good input.

But, I have to say I'm not the fondest of this style myself. I agree with everyone that we had better see improvements if this is to become mandatory, or people will walk out.