User blog comment:Rupert Giles/Prototype for a new article layout/@comment-5785681-20150106020602

So this is first time I've had a chance to learn about this "planned" article page change. Some things I like:  Alignment to a grid is fine. The circular buttons are ok. The self-adjusting font seems like a good idea. But... no right rail? IDK. That right rail gives me Wiki Activity at a glance and the most recently uploaded photos. That's a window into the editing process for every user and it encourages editing and editors learning about one another so they can work as a team. It fosters a group effort attitude.

As for the way the new layout looks, I'll give you an analogy:  it's like looking at a hot dog in a bun and telling someone, just eat the hot dog and ignore the bun. Yeah, it's still a hot dog but it's boring. The layout looks squished and unattractive to say nothing of dampening my willingness to scan the shorter line lengths over and over and over. If I want to read a newspaper article, I'll buy a newspaper. Wikia's draw, for me, was the feeling of "expansiveness" and actual space given to a fandom to play with instead of being boxed in and dictated to by advertisers like every other commercial medium out there. Perhaps this format would work well on a non-fiction wikia, but not for a fan-based wikia.

Which leads me to also ask: Why are the rails on either side so BIG? Here's my guess. Advertising that will fill that space so that your background wallpaper disappears altogether. It's already being done and will become more frequent and on more pages as we proceed. These ads will be pricey but in-your-face BIG TIME. They're the billboards of wikia and they aren't advertising the fandom.

Money is at the heart of all of these changes no matter the claims of "betterment." Someone once said, "When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck." Money=Quack

And here's my final question:  if this is such a great idea, why isn't it being impemented here at Community Central as the test site?

This is my personal opinion.

Angelle aka Luxartisan (talk) 02:06, January 6, 2015 (UTC)