This is an update proposal for the SCP Wiki's front page, numero dos, and stage one result of my multi-month-long inquest process.
Mockup (with maximal extensions, unrealistic): https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/workbench:estrellayoshte
Mockup with regular use case: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/moose-s-workbench
Purpose of the Front Page
The front page serves all users, so it needs to perform the following duties:
- Introduce the concept of the SCP Foundation and the wiki (the top header)
- Familiarize the readers with the basic structures of the wiki's contents and how to browse it (the Read section)
- Give snippets or examples of articles to get started with (Features, and to an extent, Explore and Newest Pages)
- Link to the new going-ons of the wiki (Site News, Event Banner, Survey Link)
- Link to important resources and information (Other)
- Be the navigation nexus to spring off of (in stage one, will be built off of in stage two and forward)
Technical Changes
- Removing imported fonts
- Reduce bandwidth requirements, and because the front page should neither overextend number of visual-textual differences nor does it need to
- Exceptions for Contest/Event banner can be made
- Separating the header into constituent roles
- It currently pulls double/triple duty as the flavor text, landing site, link to the introduction page and Contest/Event banner, which reduce the effectiveness of all its non-landing purposes, and is completely displaced whenever there's a contest.
- Contest/Event banner will be its own fragment/container, which should keep the CSS cleanly separated. As of writing, the current header fragment imports 5(!) fonts + an assortment of leftover unused CSS.
- Read section intuits the 4 primary types of content articles the wiki has.
Collapsing the Side Bar
The foremost positive for me is that we could really use the extra real estate afforded — The front page needed too prioritize too many things with too little space, which resulted in a significant amount of compromises in current design.
The front page's layout, from a user experience perspective, should be identical to the standard layout of the site.
I don't necessarily agree with this — least of which from a UX standpoint.
The sidebar is, IMO, not a good construction when existing on the front page, it's big, bold and nearly flat in hierarchy, with effectively no contextual structure. It's fine enough as a quick list of links when browsing usual pages, but given the aforementioned purposes of the front page, makes it inadequate as a, in practice, front page replacement.
While it's true that it should be consistent in some regards, front pages in general only possess recognizable landmarks (typically headers, design language and color scheme/theme) and does not need to match default layout 100%.
To wit, AO3 and Wikipedia's front pages deviate from its 'standard pages', Super Mario Wiki's (example of a typical wiki) body design emphasizes column layout, and Orion's Arm's (our closest categorical contemporary) default layout is uncluttered and spacious enough that its front page can afford to be a carousel PiP.
To note is that almost none of the abovementioned features a sidebar as prominent as ours (Wikipedia's sidebar is per-page navigation ToC), and that which does (SMW) is very small and to the edge of the browser width.
Which brings me to my personal analysis — The sidebar as it currently positioned is a collateral of the SCP Wiki starting on a wiki platform (Shiny Theme is identical in function to regular wikis' layout) transitioning to Sigma-9's narrow, reader-esque layout.
This resulted in an awkward compromise where the sidebar takes up ~28% of effective content width, while also leaving a noticeable lopsided gap once you scroll past its height. We've grown used to it, but it's not conventional, especially to our reading direction.
People should be recognize the general site structure on the front page
They already do — Last queried, a majority of our readers read on mobile, and should be familiar with the idea of a collapsed sidebar. Additionally, hamburger navigation is an established convention on the web, so I don't see it a a major blocker.
Should the front page be consistent with its sidebar? Sure, it'd be nice.
Can we afford the downside of Sigma's sidebar UX when it comes at a cost to effective UX with regards to the front page? Personally, I don't think so.
The discussion will last for 14 days, after which changes will be implemented unless serious concerns are raised. In the event of negative or split opinions on a proposed item, it will not be implemented.
Timer expired. Changes implemented.
Mainsite Mirror: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-17177859/
