Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-03-27/Community portal

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Community Portal redesign in progress

By HereToHelp, 27 March 2006

Since its inception in February 2004, the Community Portal has gone through many redesigns. One redesign was enacted in October 2005, and another concluded just a few weeks ago that resulted in the current layout.

The current layout may not last long, however. The Main Page recently received a makeover, introducing design elements such as a white horizontal header and blue, green, and purple boxes, and users have proposed a similar design for the Community Portal. Elements of the new Main Page have already been incorporated into pages such as the Uncyclopedia Main Page.

At first, the most recent redesign was going to use the elements from the Main Page. After a hiatus of two weeks, Go for it! uploaded a very different design that, with tweaking, became the current version of the page.

But that version may not last long. A new redesign is picking up roughly where the old one left off — using the components of the Main Page as a base. The redesign is still in draft stage, though discussion on the issue seems to indicate support for the design. Go for it!, however, comments that "Homogenous page design like this can make the user feel lost. The community portal needs its own identity." On the other hand, many users think that "homogenous page design" is desirable consistency. Go for it! rebuts: "There are always a few people who complain. But there are far more people using the page than complaining about it. [...] We've gotten complaints about almost every permutation of the Community Portal. [...] Complaints are totally normal[.]"

Also this week: Britannica v. Nature — Community Portal — News and notes — Press coverage — Features and admins — B.R.I.O.N. — T.R.O.L.L.