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List:       wikien-l
Subject:    Re: [WikiEN-l] Another WP redesign
From:       Mark <delirium () hackish ! org>
Date:       2013-01-31 23:29:54
Message-ID: 510AFE72.3000105 () hackish ! org
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On 1/30/13 1:41 AM, Steve Bennett wrote:
> A couple of screenshots to save people the effort:
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/767553/eiger-normal.png
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/767553/eiger-three-columns.png
> https://dl.dropbox.com/u/767553/eiger-three-columns-more.png
>
> Looking at these, it's remarkable that we've put up with such a bad
> layout for wide screens for so long. I mean, seriously - that
> eiger-normal.png looks *awful*. The text is far too wide to read
> comfortably, and then there's this huge white space next to the
> contents box.
>
> And all with a tiny amount of CSS. Great job, Magnus!
>

I like it as well. Actually, I recall a previous version from Magnus 
that was sort of like this which I also liked; am I imagining that?

The main issue with the present layout, imo, is that wrapping text 
around images produces clutter for no real gain when pages are so wide. 
I do like wrapping text around images on narrower pages, such as a 
typical book, or narrower portrait-format screens. In those cases, the 
alternatives feel inferior to me. Narrow columns really don't work for 
me: I use the IEEE and ACM 2-column article formats regularly in my day 
job and do not find them either aesthetically pleasing or particularly 
readable. And using a wider column without wrapping results in the image 
taking up the whole page for a certain amount of the vertical space, 
which is only sensible if it's a major object of discussion which should 
narratively fit into the text, rather than a side illustration.

But at larger widths, you can put the side illustrations out in the 
margin, because there is tons of space.

-Mark


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