User blog comment:Sannse/Your First Look at the New Wikia/@comment-1066636-20100819112548

Here are my thoughts on the skin as shown:
 * The article area is too small. To me, it seems like the new sidebar is wider than the current one; assuming that the ad in the "logged-out" screenshot has the same dimensions as those found on wiki main pages, it is likely 100px wider (a 50% increase), which means the article area is only ~650px - compared to ~750px with a fixed-width Monaco skin, a quite substantial decrease.
 * I don't really see why the last editor and the categories need to be at the top. They are fine at the bottom in my opinion.
 * The Wikia bar at the top is too large. With Monaco, it is clear the wiki is hosted by Wikia but otherwise not run by it. This design makes it look like the wiki is just a subsection of some overarching, staff-run "master" website. Plus, with all due respect to other wikis, I want people to look at "my" wiki and not others.
 * I like the less blocky, more modern look and the better placement of the RC link (assuming "Wiki Activity" actually leads to RC and not MyHome...).
 * The site navigation is too small, especially compared to the huge Wikia bar.
 * Why do images suddenly have to be called "photos"? "Images" is the more general term: All photos are images, but not all images are photos. E.g. for gaming wikis, "photos" is the wrong term for 95% of their images. Seems to me changes like that are made with only lifestyle wikis in mind.
 * Overall, I think it looks too much like a blog site. There is nothing wrong with a wiki looking like a wiki, and not like a blog - it's a different type of site after all.

Finally, one question: will the new skin have the same degree of customizability as Monaco (i.e. custom CSS/JS) or will that be sacrificed in favour of making skin customization easier for less CSS-savvy users?