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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Normxxx (talk | contribs) at 06:16, 21 January 2006 (I like Draft B with six features */). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Draft 1&2 Talk Archive
Draft 3 Talk Archive
Draft 4 Talk Archive
Draft 5 Talk Archive
Previous tallies taken (archive)
Wikipedia:PODT column archive -- Please help keep this project's version of the Pic of the day stocked up in advance.
Special Note: To see the draft correctly, clear your browser's cache.

The page title and its subline have been disabled, for effect, but only show up that way if you've cleared your cache. To do this, go to the page, and press Ctrl-F5. If that doesn't work, see Wikipedia:Bypass your cache. --Go for it! 22:30, 20 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome to the Voting Session of Round 6 of the Main Page Redesign Project

Many thanks to those who contributed feedback and critiques in the last voting round. Your ideas, concerns, pleas, and demands have been carefully studied and have contributed to the current drafts. Yes, I said drafts. We made every attempt to incorporate the most requested aspects, elements, and features into a single redesign, and we just couldn't do it.

So we're trying something a little differently this time around...

Please look over the drafts and pick out those design elements you absolutely love and feel should go onto the main page.

Feel free to set these drafts as your home page, or as buttons on your browser's toolbar, to really give them a workout. Please use them as you would the Main Page, and let us know how they stand up in comparison. Then, after putting them through its paces, let us know your impressions, thoughts, and preferences, and tell us what you would like to see added on to the main page. Thank you for your input and your patience. Voting will continue until Saturday, January 28th. Thank you.

--Go for it! 02:47, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Please refrain from altering the drafts until this voting session is over, and the next open-editing session begins. Thank you.

Place your votes and reasons for them in this section:

Here are some guidelines:

  • There are two drafts to choose from, and a section to jot down features you really like. Draft A and Draft C have the conventional four features. Draft B has both of the second features (DYK and POTD) as well as a sixth (suggestions welcome).
  • Use numbering (#) instead of bullets (*), even though bullets are used here.
  • Vote in favor of either draft, against them both, or for them both.
  • Comments, suggestions, and criticism are all welcome and will be put into draft 7.

--HereToHelp (talk • contribs) 02:05, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Note that:

  • In both drafts, the page is now fully operational, with automatic updating of content.
  • Draft 6A contains the same featured content as the current main page. "Did you know..." appears on weekdays, and "Today's featured picture" appears on weekends.
  • Draft 6B expands "Did you know..." and "Today's featured picture" to seven days per week, but this would require the cooperation of the editors responsible for these items' creation (whose work load would increase).

I like both designs equally

  1. I like them all. But I think there should be a balance between links and content, which all the drafts do quite well. I especially like the various browsing features in the headers of each page, and the expansion of subject areas to choose from in Draft B. --Go for it! 02:49, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
As always. Balance is key here. I think six features is too much content, but the links of Portals are a great way to save real estate and have them at the top, too.--HereToHelp (talk • contribs) 02:56, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I like Draft A with the four features

  1. There's too much work involved with redoing the second feature, and we don't even HAVE a sixth feature. The page takes way too long to load and bogs down old machines. Remember the KISS principle. Ultimately, there's no need for those extra features, but everything else is fantastic.--HereToHelp (talk • contribs) 02:25, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  2. I agree with everything that HereToHelp wrote, and I'll add that we haven't even begun to discuss the logistics of expanding "Did you know..." to the weekends (let alone creating a brand new feature). —David Levy 02:32, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I like Draft B with six features

  1. Since this has the picture of the day, 7 days a week. I like this one. --Go for it! 02:56, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  2. My eyes are glazing over so I'd better choose. Both are excellent and congrats to y'all for your patience diligence. I do prefer Draft B but I'll sleep well with whichever achieves conensus. hydnjo talk 03:18, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    "sleep with"...riiiiiiiiiiiigggghhhttt.....--HereToHelp (talk • contribs) 03:20, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
    To rephrase, I'll not lose any sleep whichever, A or B, is chosen... arghh nevermind.  ;-) hydnjo talk 03:37, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  3. I think Draft B is best... not sure if I like all those icons on Draft C, too busy. - JustinWick 03:20, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Draft B is good, slightly better than Draft A, but the portals list, frankly, looks terrible. Too boxy, too square, too lined-up-with-the-In-the-News-box-below-it. I would prefer a search box. Is it redundant - sure? But so is the list of portals (there's a portals link right above it), so is the second box in the page you get when you search for anything... Searching (or "go-ing") is the dominant way to access information on the Internet and in Wikipedia, and we shouldn't deny that fact just to conform to the "Browse" and tree-diagram categorizing that may seem standard. Zafiroblue05 05:04, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  5. I like Draft B best. The layout is definitely more balanced than the current page, and it seems better balanced than A or C. Moreover, the more vertical layout of the "Wikipedia community" box and slightly bluer background is superior. (I am not simply opting for "all columns"— straight text lends itself to such treatment.) I was going to opt for some "eye candy" for it, otherwise. ⇒ normxxx| talk ⇒ email 06:16, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I like some of the other drafts

  1. I like the four features on Draft C, as six are overwhelming. The colors on Draft A are somewhat too bright, and I would prefer colors more mute like those used on Draft C. These browse icons also work well in this particular context. -Kmf164 (talk | contribs) 03:12, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I dislike all the designs—what we have is fine!

If there are any design elements you particularly like and want to see added to the main page, let us know here (in addition to your vote above):

  • I like them all. But I think there should be a balance between links and content, which all the drafts do quite well. I especially like the various browsing features in the headers of each page, and the expansion of subject areas to choose from in Draft B. --Go for it! 02:49, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
As always. Balance is key here. I think six features is too much content, but the links of Portals are a great way to save real estate and have them at the top, too.--HereToHelp (talk • contribs) 02:56, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion other than voting

  • I planned on posting this voting session as a vote for design elements, but Heretohelp and DavidLevy felt they wanted to coordinate this round of voting. I didn't think the drafts were ready for posting, as there is a major formatting glitch in both A and B - which we could probably fix in a few hours, so we should have held off. But they just went forward with it. I also wanted to put all the drafts that came out of the open editing session up for consideration, but they reverted my efforts to do so. I guess that's what Wikipedia is all about. Viva le progress! Wahoooooo! --Go for it! 03:16, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Let me see if I have this straight. You unilaterally decided to announce that we would be entering a one-week period of open editing (basically implying that we didn't have permission to edit the page before), culminating in Draft 6 on Saturday. Then, at the last minute, you unilaterally (and without any prior discussion) decided that our draft wasn't ready, and that we would hold a free-for-all among every personal variation that we'd come up with (excluding the one that you dislike, but including at least one that had been abandoned by its creator). Then you complained when HTH and I had the unmitigated audacity to challenge your authority to dictate the proceedings in the manner suiting your whim of the moment. Does that about cover it?
Incidentally, I don't see this supposed formatting glitch, but you're welcome to fix it. —David Levy 04:19, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. I voted for Draft C anyway, as I prefer some redesign than the current page. It's good to hear what people think of the different designs, what they like and don't like. We can then combine the best features of each into an even better Draft #7. -Kmf164 (talk | contribs) 03:15, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
I agree, and I can't wait! --Go for it! 03:19, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Other designs

There were a lot of cool designs for a front page that came out of this project. Following are the rest of them. Feel free to post your own version here if you have one. The more the merrier. --Go for it! 03:10, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

User:Drumguy8800/Main page draft

User:Violetriga/inprogress

User:Ashibaka/Main

Wikipedia:WikiProject Usability/Main Page/Draft (Italian Inspired)

Why have all these variations?

There's no reason to have all these different versions. Personaly, I think 2 is too much. We'll just confuse people. The consensus was agianst icons and against those extra drafts. Please, this is rediculus.--HereToHelp (talk • contribs) 03:17, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. They're totally missing the point. This is not a competition between our personal drafts. It's an exhibition of our collaborative creation. The fork (which I'm beginning to regret) is merely to illustrate that the six sections aren't tied in to the other changes.
For the most part, these versions were stepping stones along the way. They contain elements that we subsequently improved or abandoned, and serve more as outdated combinations of random elements than anything else. One of them (6D) was completely abandoned by Drumguy! And I noticed that Go for it! happened to exclude the one draft that he dislikes. (I do too, but that's beside the point.) —David Levy 04:19, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This way we get to see what design elements users like, and if there is one draft that stands out above all the rest, well we'll learn that too. But after looking at all these cool designs, I just couldn't help letting everyone know about them!!!! --Go for it! 03:22, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think three is a good amount. The third is distinct enough in its design elements and colors. Let's just see what people think of the options and incorporate the feedback into Draft #7. -Kmf164 (talk | contribs) 03:24, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, it's still a discussion post. Which gives others the opportunity to see what we got to see. --Go for it! 03:30, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Let's start a pool about what will happen first, a: A new Main Page or b: WP's 1,000,000th article.  ;-) hydnjo talk 03:46, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
2,000,000th article.--HereToHelp (talk • contribs) 03:48, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Aha, an unintended consequence of an overwhelming abundance of talent all focused on the MP! hydnjo talk 04:38, 21 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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