This month Wikipedia turns 22. The Internet’s most widely used collaborative encyclopedia, or as they like to call themselves, the largest collection of open knowledge in history, has grown enormously in content and popularity over the years. It has 58 million articles written in more than 300 languages by volunteers from all over the world who edit and manage this completely free website. A place visited by 16 billion users every month.
And on the occasion of its anniversary, Wikipedia has received its first makeover in more than a decade. The Wikimedia Foundation has announced the release of an updated interface aimed at making the site more accessible and easy to use. Although the changes are not very noticeable, in fact some users may not even have noticed, they have managed to eliminate some common annoyances.
Among them, we have a new stationary header that provides quick access to the search and article sections, a search that now displays images and descriptions as you type. The table of contents has been improved and it’s easier to change languages.
The goal of the update was basically to make Wikipedia a more modern platform and clear up some clutter that there was before And, on the other hand, making the web version match the mobile version in terms of accessibility. As the organization says: “It was necessary to meet the needs of the next generation of Internet users, including those who are connecting more recently and may be less familiar with the Internet.”
Next, we review each of the changes implemented:
Another modification is the sticky Header, that has commonly used links such as “Search”, the name of the page and the Sections, which they move with you as you scroll down, staying anchored at the top of the page. That means you no longer have to go back to the top to find what you’re looking for.
Although language switching tools were available before, now oroccupy a new and more prominent position at the top right, allowing readers and publishers to switch between more than 300 languages easily admitted.
The table of contents has also undergone some changes. Iswill be anchored on the left side of the articles and It allows you to travel through the contents even if the article is very long. This makes it easier to jump from one side to another, moving between various parts of the article as you further investigate a topic.
As we have seen, none of these modifications will change the world. This is a very light update that doesn’t make any major changes. However, the portal says that these small modifications gave them best results in tests with groups of international volunteers. Users searched 30% more and scrolled 15% less. Here nothing is done in vain.
Images and GIFs: Wikipedia
