Board Thread:New Features/@comment-126761-20161201193306/@comment-5558012-20161202011333

First of all, I really like the slideshow as it's nice for us to see the data and the thought process behind an idea. I find that pretty important in suggesting whether a change should be made.

Personally, I'm not at all surprised by Random page being the most important link on the "On the wiki" tab. When I go to a wiki to read, the Random page button is the most important button I use (I like to see what the wiki has and I wouldn't necessarily know what to search for). Any future design must keep this option.

To the test concept - in general I'm not impressed. Here's why. Overall, having the wordmark center with nothing beside it is a waste of space and looks odd. I get making the wordmark center-stage to strengthen a wiki's identity, but the concept doesn't work currently. There was the recommendation for a center image though that's not going to work for every wiki given their backgrounds or complexity of the wiki (why I seen the hero image as a failure). The dropdowns remind me of the huge hubs dropdown when the first version of the new global navigation was revealed. It's a very ugly and wasteful approach. I also have to say I'm surprised a local search is making a reappearance. Does that mean the global nav search will be removed (I like the search bar being with me as I read)? There's also repetition in the proposed "Create" tab and elsewhere on the page (ie. the new create a page button and the Community page module).

My preference of the current nav is its slime design. It's not bulky - not bulky (ugh, global nav). The ExtendedNavigation script makes it even more versatility without becoming an amoeba that consumes the page. And, of course, it's styled with the wiki.

Trying to be objective as a reader not familiar with the site, I'd say most of the "On the Wiki" tab doesn't help a reader (for a viewer that could be a different story dependent on the purpose of the visit, the data shows though most don't care about Chat, the Forum, Videos, and I'd assume Maps would be in the same boat). Hiding (or omitting) the Random page button is a huge mistake. I remember going to one wiki (the Portability wiki I think) and the Random page button was missing and I was lost. I didn't know what I wanted to read and I felt like a fish out of water.