PortlandWiki:GUI
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"!
C-Wrap
Sometimes called the 'wrapper' it is the part of the site that presents brand and top level navigation as well as development related tasks and actions. The current 2010 design has fairly large amount of screen real estate devoted to top navigation.
Piki (portlandwiki) has a layout similar to Wikipedia and countless other wikis that use Wikimedia's software. That's not to say that this is a good or necessarily bad. It is important to think about priorities. What we see in the red below, is also the most important part of the screen. And what do we fill it with? Besides the main and events, we have publishing and editing related items.
By placing these items in the most valuable area, we are saying that publishing knowledge is more important than gaining knowledge. I contend the opposite. That the gaining and use of the knowledge is the most important. It is the learners and readers I think the UI has to cater more to.
The creators (or writers) are 'power' users. Visit a lot, and they have an understanding of how wiki's work. Some of them even know how to code html. I don't have to worry about them. What ever limitation exists for the UI, they will over come them.
There are a couple items in the wrapper that deserve attention.
- the logo
- the search
- account related links
The tricky part will be to highlight these areas while streamlining the other areas of the cwrapper
With this particular design all the c-wrap elements have been put at the top, items that are in the side nav now could be in a pull-down (not shown)