Arch Linux

Neitsab

Wiki Maintainer

Registered: 2013-12-05

Posts: 30

Mobile friendly/responsive theme for the wiki

I'd like to discuss the opportunity to update Arch wiki's theme so as to make it more mobile friendly/responsive.

A few months ago, it occurred to me after browsing the wiki for several days in a row from a smartphone that the current skin was really ill-adapted to mobile navigation: I constantly had to zoom-in and out, and move the focus around to read articles...

I was expecting to find an existing thread or feature request discussing the adaptation of the wiki skin to mobile browsing, but to my great dismay I didn't find anything tackling this topic.

It was only a few weeks later that I stumbled upon Gentoo's wiki overhaul to their custom-made, Bootstrap-based Mediawiki theme, Tyrian. I thought it was a great example to build upon, since the result looked really good (in my eyes at least ) and was published under GPLv2. A similar achievement is definitely possible with Arch visual identity and, as I hope to convince you, highly desirable.

So here I am, kicking off the discussion in the hope to help bring the wiki's theme into the responsive era.

Argumentation outline:

1. The current skin is really ill-adapted to mobile navigation: we need to zoom in to view text, move focus around to read paragraphs...

2. Mobile browsers' article/reading mode and dedicated app are helpful, but are dependent on client configuration and require an additional step, breaking firsthand experience; a unified look and feel would benefit the experience across devices and consolidate the high level of satisfaction the wiki currently enjoys

3. Inspiration can be taken from Gentoo's wiki, which uses its own Mediawiki skin published under GPLv2.

I believe such a move would be highly beneficial for the Arch community, helping one of its most highly praised achievement come up to speed with the current state of web browsing and the increasingly mobile landscape.

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,268

Re: Mobile friendly/responsive theme for the wiki

Not exactly what you asked for, but have you seen this neat little android app?

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fukawi2

Ex-Administratorino

From: .vic.au

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 6,230

Website

Re: Mobile friendly/responsive theme for the wiki

You should file a "Feature Request" or "General Gripe" against the "Web Sites" in flyspray to make sure this gets attention from the right people.

I have struggled with the wiki not being mobile friendly in the past when I've broken something and the only other device handy to search with is my phone, so personally I support the idea of making the theme responsive.

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Neitsab

Wiki Maintainer

Registered: 2013-12-05

Posts: 30

Re: Mobile friendly/responsive theme for the wiki

Not exactly what you asked for, but have you seen this neat little android app?

I did stumble upon it while preparing my post, it's the "dedicated app" I'm referring and linking to in point nb 2. It seems awesome but only helps so much because of the reasons I outline there (Android only, separate app to be installed and used specifically for the wiki...).

You should file a "Feature Request" or "General Gripe" against the "Web Sites" in flyspray to make sure this gets attention from the right people.

Done in FS#46697.

Thanks for your advice and support!