User blog:Basilmemories/How Oasis could have been good.

I comment around on other people’s blogs about Oasis a lot, generally to debate with the people who are on Wikia’s side, and to encourage people who are closer to Awa on what they can do to take action. However one of the most frequent comments is something along the lines of “The skin was a horrible idea in the first place, and it’ll never be as good as Monaco!” Well, yes and no. Right now it IS a horrible skin that’s worse then Monaco, but it once could have, and can be fixed into something better. It could and can even be better then Monaco, no sarcasm. “Well then, are you some kind of fancy-pants graphic designer that could show me this?” they say, even if it’s only in the straw-man arguments that I have in my mind. And that answer is… Yes, yes I can do that.

Oasis, how it could have been


Take a look at that sweet deal on the right. Many Oasis features on the top and bottom, Monaco-style content area, and what I feel is an improvement overall. But let’s not just waste a blog post with me shouting “LOOKATIT. LOOK AT THAT SKIN” and actually go over the features of this hypothetical skin.

Navigation and top area
Looking at the top you have the standard Wikia bar. Like I mentioned in my last post, it’s useful, and not big enough that it needs to be trimmed down too much. The change here would be that the navigation activates on hover+click, instead of only hovering. I don’t mind how it is now, but a chunk of the userbase hates it, and so I’m going with the userbase over my personal preferences. In addition if someone used this skin on their own hosting, they could use the top bar for navigation between the wiki and their own/the company’s website, and the navbar for the wiki links.

You’ll also see that the logo/wordmark is bigger again. This is to visually balance out the top navigation portion. Otherwise it’ll look cluttered and the natural flow of how people read a page will be ruined. You’ll also see some light blue boxes in the page. Those are the ad positions. The horizontal banner bar will be there for logged-out users, but what about the logged-in users? Well for those people that’ll be a handy div that you can stick a graphic in, or even an image that corresponds to the category/page or the like. Why with a bit of handy coding knowledge you could put in a horizontally scrolling news feed. No, logged out users won’t see that, but it provides an incentive to get an account, doesn’t it?

Is the banner ad size a bit small? If it is, there’s certainly some wiggle room for adjustment. The wiki navigation can be nudged down a bit, and so can the page name and editing features. They even can be moved a bit closer together. Speaking of the navbar, in this version it’s been upped to six or seven slots, and considering that in this version it has unfolding submenus, that’s more then just about anybody needs. In short, the top space works, is flexible, and provides ample space for both the information and any ads. Let’s move on.

The sidebar
Now you will notice that the sidebar is left-aligned again, and narrower. This is for a number of reasons. The first and foremost is readability and eyeflow. While other websites have right-aligned sidebars, they often don’t have a lot of charts, pictures in the main article, or infoboxes to deal with. Having an infobox/whatever next to the sidebar can break reader flow and the eye darts around to different parts of the page until it gets back to the core information, and that can lead to eye strain and migraines. Since infoboxes and tables/exc are an integral part of wikis, the sidebar is placed on the left in this version.

However the loss of some space in the video ad (the square blue box) is made up by the positioning of it’s new little home. Most Latin-based languages read left-to-right, so the user’s vision will go from the first catchy item (the logo/wordmark) riiight down to- BAM, video ad. Moreover the ad is presented in an aesthetically pleasing way. It’s being framed by two elements, one of which the user will frequently come back to for all their searching needs. This means the ad is getting even more views then when the side bar is on the right. It’s not “annoying” the viewer to get the ad into their head (which can lead to the person rejecting the brand/product), but it’s burrowing in, in that stealthy, repetitive way that establishes a brand name and gets people to buy those products. I can tell you that very idea makes advertisers start salivating like Pavlov’s dog.

Even if the ad is collapsed for logged-in users, it still doesn’t significantly break up the flow of information. The reason is, again, because the sidebar is on the left. Internet users are trained to visually jump down from the right side of the article to the next line, so unless it’s shiny and moves (like an ad); the brain slots that information as a slightly less important priority. Since all the main parts of the skin that promote getting an account/giving Wikia money are near the top, it’s okay if the user skims this and glances back when they want whatever information is in the sidebar.

Most importantly though, is that space where the Twitter feed is. This would be a separate div that an admin can place text, pictures, or more importantly, widgets made with the mediawiki widgets extension. This little extension allows for practically anything that a wikia user had with the old widgets, and more. Plus it’s constantly maintained and the mediawikiwidget wiki has an incredibly helpful community. This is great for Wikia staff and users alike. The users get the flexibility to provide information in the best way for their readers, and the Wikia staff don’t have to field questions about the extension or complaints about how there isn’t a feature that meets the users’ needs. In addition this div could even be coded so that users and guests could collapse the widgets after the Wikia-required ones. The admin get to spread whatever information they want, the staff have fewer headaches, and the users get to toggle the feature. How can you go wrong with that?

The Article


This is rather cut and dry. The optimum page would be fluid-width, but even if Wikia stayed with fixed-width, there’s enough article space to be fine. The empty space problem that comes up with the current skin would be lessened to the point where it isn’t really a problem with the narrower sidebar, and removed entirely with widgets/ads visible. This all comes down to the matter of framing. The eye likes information with a frame around it, the more empty space, the more it wanders or perceives the text as cramped. Seriously, look at this page with just a blue strip along one side. The text is still cramped, but it looks better. However take that strip away or have a large sidebar and the problem becomes headache-worthy.

The proposal
However this version of the skin isn’t headache-inducing. It’s designed to accommodate how the eye naturally moves from one element to another, it has enough space for ads and information, it presents all of the above in a pleasing way, and it’s flexible so that it will be able to provide years of use. It’s sleek, modern, eye-catching, easy to customize while still showing Wikia’s brand, and most of all, there’s little to no wasted space. If Wikia had or does go down this road, this would beat out just about all of the competition.

-But in case they don’t go down this road, I have a request, as unlikely as I’ll get anybody that wants to bite. You’ll notice I don’t call myself a coder for a very good reason, mainly one that includes how I transpose numbers and that I’m very much a visual designer. If I could sling code I would create a skin with this layout and features and release it to the public domain. As it stands I’m on the lookout for someone who could make this skin for my own privately-hosted wiki. However I know that people don’t work for free, and rightly they shouldn’t. So I propose this. If someone makes this skin and/or allows me to release it to the public, I’ll do an equivalent trade in my design services, work out a payment schedule, or a combination of the two. If this doesn’t sound like a thrilling offer… well, I don’t blame you, honestly.

However, a better skin or not, Wikia could have really done a number on wiki navigation that could have beat Vector and Monaco combined. They could have made something that would have really brought in the new users and upped ad revenue. Honestly, they still can do that, they just need to sit back, look at the declining numbers, and make the choice to spend a bit more to have a last-minute comeback. They can make a major improvement to the site.

They just need to tune out the focus groups, and tune in to the users.

Response from staff:
Hello, you said in the post that if people wanted to contact you over the skin to send you a line here, Even though I’m sure you’ll gloss over any criticism and only remark on the positive, I’m going along with your suggestion anyway, quite possibly out of a form of emotional masochism.

Long story short, I made a detailed mockup of improvements you could make to Oasis, and I was wondering if you or the other staff would like to weigh in on it [], or on this page. In that post I detail how the staff and designers could tweak the skin into something that might be a compromise for Advertisers, staff, and users alike. While I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from my friends in advertizing and design work, I haven’t approached Wikia’s staff about the idea yet.

Basilmemories 13:32, November 24, 2010 (UTC)
 * Hi Basil, I appreciate the effort that's gone in to this. I see that your design is an Monaco version, with the new look units, and interesting combination. I don't know how the skin will develop over time, but that's a lot more of a return to Monaco that a tweak... I don't think that a return in that direction is likely. Thanks for the feedback -- SannseThis user is a member of Wikia Staff (help forum | blog) 17:01, November 24, 2010 (UTC)
 * (note from Basil: So yes, it seems that at least one member of the staff is unwilling to compromise)
 * (note from Basil: So yes, it seems that at least one member of the staff is unwilling to compromise)

Deletion of work:
Ah back again back again. You know, I'd left the place because other, more reasonable options for hosting your own wiki came around, but today I got a little notice! Yes it seems that an admin deleted the screenshot of the oasis skin and what was wrong with it, but not any of my own work that I'd rather not have in Wikia's grubby little hands, strange how that works, isn't it? As long as it's got even the possibility of making money then OH HECK NO IT'S NOT COMING DOWN, but if it toes the line into criticism and shoving Wikia into the mess it made for itself, then the darn thing has to go.

Congrats Wikia, you made me remember that you exist, and you made me remember that I haven't told absolutely everyone I know who want to start a wiki about your checkered past. I'll be glad to fix that now.

ETA: Oh hey, I edit the entry with info about what happened, and it came back! funny about that.