Talk:Main Page/Archive 2020

Need more images

The main page could do with more images and colour. We want to catch readers' attention within the first few seconds. We could insert one image per major category in the main table:

Personal finance:

Financial management:

Financial planning:

Investment management:

Retirement planning:

Other popular articles:

Reference material:

The images may have to be cropped to make them all the same vertical size. Thoughts? --Quebec 07:42, 21 March 2020 (MDT)

You have a good idea, but there must be a consideration for mobile devices. Images occupy a large space on a mobile device. As an alternative, perhaps the main page layout can be organized into a more attractive format? The Bogleheads wiki Main Page is modified from Wikipedia's wp:Main Page alternatives/(outline links). There is custom wikitext for mobile devices (use Moble view).

I recommend formats implemented by Wikipedia, as they have considerable experience with layouts. See: wp:Main Page alternatives. My preference is the Bogleheads wiki layout (I collaborated with the main page development.) --LadyGeek 17:39, 21 March 2020 (MDT)

Wikipedia's current front page layout look very good graphically (I'm using a PC with a 45 cm wide screen). I like the square(ish) blocks of text, the pale green rectangles with titles, the photos, etc. However the contents are not relevant ("Today's featured article", "In the news", "On this day"...). For finiki we don't need content that changes every day. But a more visually attractive front page, with more or less the same content we have now (plus some images), would be nice.--Quebec 06:47, 22 March 2020 (MDT)

Thoughts? P.I.?--Quebec 13:36, 24 March 2020 (MDT)

I've been pondering it a bit. This isn't a new concern BTW, check the finiki lounge forum and you will see the main page design has come up before. Some useful considerations and background can also be found in Wikipedia:Main Page design. I'm not sure that colour or images are necessary to grab a readers attention. LadyGeek raises a good point about needing to make sure we consider both desktop and mobile devices. At the end of the day I think we need to carefully proceed on such a critical page, so I'm hesitant. But I can be swayed if there is consensus. --Peculiar Investor 14:24, 24 March 2020 (MDT)

OK then, I'm going to be blunt. Visually, our front page is not attractive. It looks 10+ years old. It has almost no color (black text, blue text, and the red maple leaf), and no images. Our potential readers, especially the younger ones, are also watching youtube videos and reading blogs. That is the esthetic they are used to, and it looks contemporary. Examples: J Bender, Mr Money Mustache, B. Felix. I'm not saying finiki that should look like those sites, but a bit of freshening up of the front page seems warranted... Maybe something graphically similar to wikipedia... I realize I'm creating work for other people here.--Quebec 16:04, 24 March 2020 (MDT)

Even some of finiki's articles look better than the front page. Take a look at Canada's retirement income system for example. There's the green piggy bank in the upper right. There is the multi-colour figure convening relevant information near the middle. There is a navigation menu. There is some white space, which you could argue is wasted, but gives the reader some breathing room. In contrast, the front page is almost only text. If you're a bit tired after a long say at work, you're not going to start reading.--Quebec 16:16, 24 March 2020 (MDT)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Understood. If we do undertake the change then we'll need to double-check the usage rights for images we choose. To the best of my knowledge we have never tracked this properly, but if images are on the main page, they better be appropriately licensed for use by us. I recall playing around a bit with the Upload file page, specifically the Licensing drop-down, but never completed the work. --Peculiar Investor 19:47, 24 March 2020 (MDT)

I have created a prototype: User:LadyGeek/Main Page. Further discussion is in the finiki lounge. --LadyGeek 08:15, 25 March 2020 (MDT)

Small step, added an image. And yes I know what I posted in the finiki lounge about 'rapid prototyping'. --Peculiar Investor 11:48, 27 March 2020 (MDT)

I strongly recommend reverting the change - it's live. Please create a draft page, then transclude through User:LadyGeek/Main Page. Draft pages are unprotected and allow any editor to experiment without impacting a published page. --LadyGeek 11:54, 27 March 2020 (MDT)