User blog:BertH/Fluid layout has arrived

The first stage of Project Darwin &mdash; fluid layout &mdash; has arrived! All of your favorite Wikia communities now have fluid layout enabled. As we've discussed over the past few months, this update optimizes Wikia's layout for different display sizes. If you're using a larger monitor, you'll be able to see the article space increase in size. On a tablet, you'll get a reading experience tailored to the smaller screen, that keeps the focus on the article content.

Feedback from the community has helped to make this update a successful one. We received lots of questions and suggestions regarding fluid backgrounds and how certain types of images would be handled. Those discussions helped us develop additional settings in Theme Designer to address those concerns. We also received comments about the appearance of the right rail modules when they're moved lower on tablet displays, and users on those devices will soon see an improved layout for those elements. A big thanks to everyone who sent in ideas, suggestions, and bug reports! Remember, if you need any help updating your community, you can post a request in the forum.

Note: If your community uses custom CSS to set its background image, please see this thread.



What's next for Project Darwin?
There are still a few upcoming changes related to fluid layout. We'll be updating modals (the inset pop-up windows) with a new design that you can already see in action on the Forum, Message Wall and Chat features. Also, many of you may remember the design "grid" that we talked about in late 2012. Soon we'll be updating some of Wikia's Special pages (like Videos and Search) and features (like Category Exhibition) to utilize a new "fluid grid", which can already be seen on the Wikia Video main page.

The new VisualEditor is available now for any community to try out, and will continue to get updates in the new year. Project Darwin will keep going in 2014 with other improvements, and your feedback will continue to be an important part of the process.