10 years later, Wikipedia It features a design change to the interface for the desktop version, aimed at providing a much more reader-friendly experience and providing better search tools to help navigate the site.

According to web domain provider research HostingerThis digital encyclopedia is the most visited page in 43 countries of the world, so the people responsible for the platform believe that it is time to implement the ideas they have collected in an “organized and coherent way”.

The Wikimedia Foundation Explains that it has not removed any features and that the changes allow for real benefits in tests with international volunteer groups.

What are the changes in Wikipedia?

Reading and searching are the basis of design modifications to fix some of the clutter and make the desktop version as consistent as the mobile version.

The first change is the inclusion of a search box that uses images and descriptions in its autocomplete suggestions to guide users to their queries. This addition increased searches by 30% during the testing phase.

The menu that divides each request into sections, for example, in the case of country, anthem, flag, history and more, will no longer be at the top, but will be located on the left side and will go down as the user scrolls down the page, so that you do not have to go back. Something was annoying.

This small tweak resulted in a 15% reduction in the displacement rate during testing.

Languages ​​also changed. Although this is a feature that has been available for a long time, now it is much easier and faster to do a translation because of the button on the right side. 300 languages ​​are currently available.

Other changes introduced to the site include the inclusion of a collapsible sidebar for easier reading, changing the maximum line width, increasing the font size so that reading is not tiring.

Many of these changes are made with the “next generation” of Internet users in mind and who may not be familiar with the Internet, so they need to adapt to current needs.

These changes are still receiving feedback from users, therefore Wikipedia Ensures that there may be variations in the next few days before the design update is rolled out worldwide.

The changes have been in the works for three years, and in December 2022, the new design was rolled out to nearly 300 Wikipedias worldwide, although it became the default interface for Wikipedias in Arabic and Greek.

“The changes are aimed at meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse audience. At the same time, keeping the simple and straightforward feeling that millions of people have trusted for the past 22 years,” said the company’s director of product and technology. Wikimedia Foundation, Selena Deckelman.

nowadays, Wikipedia Offers more than 58 million articles in more than 300 languages, which are consulted nearly 16,000 million times a month. In addition, the update is active in 94% of the 318 active language versions of the platform for all desktop users where these changes were made, initially in the English version.

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