Mailing List Archive: Wikipedia: Wikitech

Moving the search box up

Index | Next | Previous | View Threaded

tstarling at wikimedia

Jul 7, 2008, 6:19 PM

Post #1 of 12 (1159 views)
Permalink

Moving the search box up

It's now possible to move the search box up in the sidebar, above links
generated by [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]]. This is done by adding a section
called "SEARCH" (case-sensitive) to [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]], in the location
you think it should be. For instance:

* SEARCH
* navigation
** mainpage|mainpage
** Portal:Contents|Contents
** Portal:Featured content|featuredcontent
** currentevents-url|currentevents
** randompage-url|randompage

It's also possible to move the languages box and the toolbox in the same
way, using LANGUAGES and TOOLBOX.

Do not put second-level links under the special headings:

* SEARCH
** Don't add a line like this

It doesn't do anything useful (yet).

-- Tim Starling

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

brion at wikimedia

Jul 8, 2008, 2:54 PM

Post #2 of 12 (1120 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

Tim Starling wrote:
> It's now possible to move the search box up in the sidebar, above links
> generated by [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]]. This is done by adding a section
> called "SEARCH" (case-sensitive) to [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]], in the location
> you think it should be.

Yay for customization! :D

We might consider doing that particular change by default...

-- brion

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Simetrical+wikilist at gmail

Jul 9, 2008, 5:59 AM

Post #3 of 12 (1127 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

On Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 5:54 PM, Brion Vibber <brion [at] wikimedia> wrote:
> Tim Starling wrote:
>> It's now possible to move the search box up in the sidebar, above links
>> generated by [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]]. This is done by adding a section
>> called "SEARCH" (case-sensitive) to [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]], in the location
>> you think it should be.
>
> Yay for customization! :D
>
> We might consider doing that particular change by default...

Even if we don't, surely it would be a good idea to alter the default
MediaWiki:Sidebar message to include the default positions in the
default places. The discoverability of this feature at the moment is
roughly zero (although, to be fair, the same could be said of
MediaWiki:Sidebar generally).

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

beesley at gmail

Jul 9, 2008, 6:47 AM

Post #4 of 12 (1123 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 10:59 PM, Simetrical
<Simetrical+wikilist [at] gmail> wrote:
> Even if we don't, surely it would be a good idea to alter the default
> MediaWiki:Sidebar message to include the default positions in the
> default places. The discoverability of this feature at the moment is
> roughly zero (although, to be fair, the same could be said of
> MediaWiki:Sidebar generally).

To improve discoverability, you could include a default link saying
*MediaWiki:Sidebar|Edit this sidebar

(we've done something similar on Wikia which worked well)

Angela

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Platonides at gmail

Jul 9, 2008, 6:48 AM

Post #5 of 12 (1115 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

Simetrical wrote:
> Even if we don't, surely it would be a good idea to alter the default
> MediaWiki:Sidebar message to include the default positions in the
> default places. The discoverability of this feature at the moment is
> roughly zero (although, to be fair, the same could be said of
> MediaWiki:Sidebar generally).

I thought exactly the same, but it wouldn't be backwards compatible.

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Simetrical+wikilist at gmail

Jul 9, 2008, 6:56 AM

Post #6 of 12 (1115 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 9:47 AM, Angela <beesley [at] gmail> wrote:
> To improve discoverability, you could include a default link saying
> *MediaWiki:Sidebar|Edit this sidebar
>
> (we've done something similar on Wikia which worked well)

That's an excellent idea. Any objections?

On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 9:48 AM, Platonides <Platonides [at] gmail> wrote:
> I thought exactly the same, but it wouldn't be backwards compatible.

Sure it would. It would just do nothing for preexisting wikis that
had modified the message, falling back to the existing hardcoded
default positions. I'm not suggesting that they not be rendered if
they aren't included in the sidebar message, or anything like that.
That would be a bad idea even disregarding BC, because someone might
accidentally remove a critical interface element and not realize how
to restore it.

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

innocentkiller at gmail

Jul 9, 2008, 7:07 AM

Post #7 of 12 (1116 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 9:56 AM, Simetrical
<Simetrical+wikilist [at] gmail> wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 9:47 AM, Angela <beesley [at] gmail> wrote:
>> To improve discoverability, you could include a default link saying
>> *MediaWiki:Sidebar|Edit this sidebar
>>
>> (we've done something similar on Wikia which worked well)
>
> That's an excellent idea. Any objections?
>

I'd say go for it. There's a bug open about localization hints
on installation (14681). Perhaps it's time to update the
default mainpage messages?

-Chad

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

brion at wikimedia

Jul 9, 2008, 9:17 AM

Post #8 of 12 (1109 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Simetrical wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 9:47 AM, Angela <beesley [at] gmail> wrote:
>> To improve discoverability, you could include a default link saying
>> *MediaWiki:Sidebar|Edit this sidebar
>>
>> (we've done something similar on Wikia which worked well)
>
> That's an excellent idea. Any objections?

Er, how about that 99.9999% of visitors would have this link they can't
do anything about?

- -- brion
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.8 (Darwin)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iEYEARECAAYFAkh05KkACgkQwRnhpk1wk47tQwCg37BIwZOuZtybhlhPX8XsgRlC
M4sAoIz3zRNDDVmpmtcxvZMXudsqdl+F
=HDsF
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

minuteelectron at googlemail

Jul 9, 2008, 10:16 AM

Post #9 of 12 (1115 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

Platonides wrote:
> Simetrical wrote:
>> Even if we don't, surely it would be a good idea to alter the default
>> MediaWiki:Sidebar message to include the default positions in the
>> default places. The discoverability of this feature at the moment is
>> roughly zero (although, to be fair, the same could be said of
>> MediaWiki:Sidebar generally).
>
> I thought exactly the same, but it wouldn't be backwards compatible.
>

If the same default ordering as now is maintained this wouldn't have any
backwards compatibility issues.

* navigation
** mainpage|mainpage-url

would always be synonymous to

* navigation
** mainpage|mainpage-url
* SEARCH
* TOOLBOX
* LANGUAGES

or even

* navigation
** mainpage|mainpage-url
* SEARCH

MinuteElectron.

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

minuteelectron at googlemail

Jul 9, 2008, 10:19 AM

Post #10 of 12 (1122 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

Brion Vibber wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Simetrical wrote:
>> On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 9:47 AM, Angela <beesley [at] gmail> wrote:
>>> To improve discoverability, you could include a default link saying
>>> *MediaWiki:Sidebar|Edit this sidebar
>>>
>>> (we've done something similar on Wikia which worked well)
>> That's an excellent idea. Any objections?
>
> Er, how about that 99.9999% of visitors would have this link they can't
> do anything about?
>

One would assume that the wiki administrator(s) would remove the link
once they are aware of how to customize the sidebar (and have customized
it). On the other hand, given the wide MediaWiki user base, this might
not always occur and some sites often leave the sidebar as its default.
The suggestion of putting a notice about it in the default main page
makes sense, however.

MinuteElectron.

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Simetrical+wikilist at gmail

Jul 9, 2008, 2:35 PM

Post #11 of 12 (1108 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 1:19 PM, MinuteElectron
<minuteelectron [at] googlemail> wrote:
> Brion Vibber wrote:
>> Er, how about that 99.9999% of visitors would have this link they can't
>> do anything about?
>
> One would assume that the wiki administrator(s) would remove the link
> once they are aware of how to customize the sidebar (and have customized
> it). On the other hand, given the wide MediaWiki user base, this might
> not always occur and some sites often leave the sidebar as its default.
> The suggestion of putting a notice about it in the default main page
> makes sense, however.

Yeah, okay, updating the default main page to answer some frequently
asked questions might be a better idea.

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Wikipedia.Danny.B at email

Jul 11, 2008, 1:49 AM

Post #12 of 12 (1074 views)
Permalink

Re: Moving the search box up [In reply to]

> ------------ P�vodn� zpr�va ------------
> Od: Brion Vibber <brion [at] wikimedia>
> P�edm�t: Re: [Wikitech-l] Moving the search box up
> Datum: 08.7.2008 23:54:55
> ----------------------------------------
> Tim Starling wrote:
> > It's now possible to move the search box up in the sidebar, above links
> > generated by [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]]. This is done by adding a section
> > called "SEARCH" (case-sensitive) to [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]], in the location
> > you think it should be.
>
> Yay for customization! :D
>
> We might consider doing that particular change by default...
>
> -- brion

Definitely. It has been requested by many people as well as random occasional visitors complain that the search box isn't on "usual" place (= very top right or top left right under header/logo) and it took them some time to find it. Also some wikis (not necessarily Wikimedia's, however Wikimania 2008 is nice example) have pretty long navigation thus search box moves down out of viewport in some resolutions/window sizes.

Can the 1.13 be issued with this feature ready?

Also some maintenance script to be ran over Wikimedia wikis to add these new three items on wikis with overriden sidebar message would be nice to synchronize.

Danny B.

_______________________________________________
Wikitech-l mailing list
Wikitech-l [at] lists
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Index | Next | Previous | View Threaded

Interested in having your list archived? Contact Gossamer Threads