PortlandWiki:GUI

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PortlandWiki needs a new user interface! Help us build it. This page is a central dumping ground for ideas, wireframes, graphics, color schemes, and anything else related to improving our "look-and-feel"!

Competitive Assessment

Part of thinking about a new design is to see if we can look at other wikis out there. To see how other sites have evolved, and to deduce why they reached to that conclusion. Unless someone among us were part of the design, I can only analyze based on the conclusion. Sometimes this is called heuristics. We methodically look at other sites with similar purposes or similar technologies. We methodically note what we like.

View Full Analysis

Brainstorming

Within the effort of the redesign, some initial work has been done in an effort to learn more about the user experience, and to get a sense for the needs and the goals.

View Early Design Concepts


Top Messaging Area

The Top Messaging Area is a content object located at the top of the content area of a set of pages. The TMA, tends to exist for all pages, and provides global, emergency, and account messages. In the current design the TMA appears below the page title, but one view is that the TMA should be positioned at the very top, perhaps between the logo and the top navigation.

View Top Messaging Area Analysis

Widgets

Sometimes called components. These are distinct content items that are finite, and are often positioned separately from the text area of the text. Widgets are often stacked together in a separate column of a page, serving to present the pages content in a different way. Widgets are often used as a jumping off point to other pages.

View Widget Analysis

Inline Objects

Content that is flow-based and is anchored to how text is displayed. Inline objects will change in location according to how text is is forced to flow. The most common form of content within the wiki format.

Types of Inline Objects

  • text
  • links
  • external links
  • Images
  • Galleries
  • Table of Contents

Publishing Tools

PortlandWiki:GUI Publishing


MediaWiki Skin

Within the mediawiki platform (what Piki) is built on. UI is controlled largely by the skin. The skin is integrated with the php file used for generating a page.

MediaWiki Help pages User Styles

User Generated Skins Family site by Dan Flores