User blog comment:Rupert Giles/Introducing Updated Global Navigation/@comment-5645428-20141011052915

Before getting to the bar, personally I have always hated this ignorant concept of "modern" design. It was Windows 8 by Microsoft of all companies, with this garish look of rainbow tiles in two dimensions, somehow sent shooting across the design world thanks to none other than Apple, which crawled behind them with the flatness of iOS 7 and a painful and sterile "supreme white" display to accompany. It was this, said to be modern design by people who simply agree with whatever is placed in front of them, supposedly the way of the future and better than what existed previously. I find it sad how it is embraced not because it looks good but because everyone just follows whatever trend seems to be in at the time; elegant and sophisticated is out; flat one-tone and basic is in. As a result, creativity is chained on a leash.

Back to the bar, it is a clear example of blind conformity. Don't get me wrong, it is by far superior function-wise and I am glad Wikia have finally updated it to be extensively more useful and reliable. However, how it looks in my opinion is just as important for a number of different reasons. There a several issues:


 * Overuse of white with no gradients, textures or even just darker colours, not even the Wikia signature blue.


 * Poor contrast using Microsoft Office 2013 greys (ack!).


 * The search bar looks awkward and isn't properly outlined, not to mention there is definitely something wrong with the font when you type something in it.


 * The new bar has a height of 57px compared to the current bar of 34px. This is roughly 66% taller - obtrusive and excessive with no practical reason for being so. 40px is honestly enough to fit the current 18px search bar which looks fine.


 * The profile dropdown menus are of equal size to the bar and just four, even larger notifications span down the page. The current bar is already effective in what it does in that regard. There is no point burying a menu within another.


 * Why is the "Start a wikia" button so prominent? The majority of people read wikis to learn information about a subject, not to be urged to start new wikis of another. The word "wikia" already appears three times on the bar. Forced advertising need not extend this far.


 * I am not sure about others, but my orb profile pic has been cropped to be circular. I don't know what that is in aid of and I'd rather it not be like that.

Without the ability to modify it with CSS (rounded edges on menus?) or have an option to recolour it and possibly apply transparency in the theme deisgner is a huge flaw that would be able to address almost all the issues described above. I can appreciate its new features, but there is still a lot to be desired. I most definitely hope it does not arrive on my wiki in its current form.