Perhaps the invitation to try out the skin can be made less imperative? For example: The Wikimedia Foundation Web team strongly suggests trying it for at least one week, as it can take a few days to start feeling comfortable with a new interface. If you are unsatisfied, you can switch to any of our other skins at any time. isaacl (talk) 22:52, 13 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Isaacl. Thanks for your suggestion. I've edited the sentence. What do you think of the current wording? SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 15:56, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the changes; I feel it's more friendly this way. I have a minor copy edit to suggest to the first sentence for more conciseness: If you decide to try it out, we, the Web team, suggest trying it for at least one week prior to deciding whether to switch to one of our older skins. I appreciate your responsiveness. isaacl (talk) 17:45, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I've simplified the sentence using your copy edit; in the future, feel free to make such improvements yourself :) SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 17:49, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I would have done so, except that since this particular section is relaying advice from the Web team, I wanted to check that there was no objection to a change in tone. isaacl (talk) 18:44, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies in advance if this sounds a little silly given Wikipedia's policies. Just switched to using Vector 2022 and, given that its wide rollout to the default skin is only a few days away, I feel it prudent to put it out there that I have noticed a potential issue with a new feature where images appear when using the search bar. For instance, if a user were to innocently search for 'peninsula', the 'penis' article appears while typing (thanks to the first four letters matching) complete with, for lack of a better phrasing, a photograph of an elephant's schlong. This is still far from the worst such example!

I fully understand that Wikipedia is not censored and such images are often necessary for the encyclopedic value of the articles where they are placed. However, on the old skin these pictures never appeared while using the search bar, so people making innocent searches didn't have to see them. A new Wikipedia user could be discouraged from using the site if they are offended and/or disturbed by the images appearing as they try to search for topics that aren't explicit at all. This seems especially likely if they're not logged in, with no idea how to hide the images.

On that note I am curious to know what (if anything) will be done to prevent these unfortunate incidents while not compromising the quality of the articles. I am wondering if there will be some sort of technical means implemented to hide specific images from search results and previews, like how the bad image list ensures certain pictures (many of which are sexual, violent or otherwise considered repulsive by many) aren't shown on pages other than which they are allowed. There could also be an option for logged-in users to choose whether to allow explicit images in their search results, with the default setting being to hide them.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this and would love to know your thoughts on the matter. Entranced98 (talk) 03:16, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This is a decent point. While we've traditionally had WP:NOTCENSORED, some of this is based on the philosophy that someone visiting the penis article should expect to see a penis. It's obviously not the same philosophy if you're given search suggestions when trying to find a different article, and of course we do avoid potentially objectionable material on unrelated articles, if there is no clear encyclopaedic purpose. (Wikipedia:Offensive material is a decent summary.) ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 13:03, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I'd love to see a collection or contest of the best scripts to extend the new skin. There's a lot of great improvements here but also a bunch of new annoyances for power users (that will either subside with acclimation/time or be tweaked through CSS user scripts). czar 03:26, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hey @Czar! That's a nice idea. We're keeping such a list here. If you'd like to create a local list here on English WP, I'd suggest keeping these two in sync. SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 15:52, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I am against changing the Wikipedia design. I hate Vector 2022. SonicIn2022 (talk) 15:44, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

the main issue you cannot hide on mobile the contents on the left, it is not saved. Which makes reading stuff impossible. So much for dynamic rendering. Valery Zapolodov (talk) 21:29, 14 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Valery Zapolodov You can??? Just press hide for the table of contents and the《 for the actual sidebar Aaron Liu (talk) 02:18, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It is not preserved. You need to press it every time. Valery Zapolodov (talk) 12:02, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Ah. Fair point.

I guess they expected mobile users to still use Minerva Neuve. Aaron Liu (talk) 15:20, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@SonicIn2022 Have you tried for at least a week? Any overhaul would require a week to get used to. What specific grievances do you have against the new skin? Also, we’re not going to remove the old skin as your title “keep the old skin” suggests, you can always change it in settings. Aaron Liu (talk) 02:20, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I already tried it on Miraheze. The new skin sucks. SonicIn2022 (talk) 13:10, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The Miraheze version hasn't had a lot of new fixes introduced yet, Miraheze is on 1.38 while the latest version is 1.39. Try it out on THIS wiki. Plus, what specific grievances do you have towards the new skin? The possibility that it hasn't been bought up in the mentioned rfc is very low. Aaron Liu (talk) 15:19, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The Vector 2022 update looks alright, however the default appearance with "limited width mode" is a major waste of monitor space. I recommend that limited width mode is disabled by default when the update goes through. Cards84664 16:18, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Cards84664. Thanks for your general support. Of course, you're free to disable the limited width permanently in your preferences. (Un-check the option "Enable limited width mode" or click the toggle in the bottom right corner of the screen.)

However, regarding the default view for everyone, I'd like to recommend reading the section of the FAQ: Why is the width of the content limited?. Also note the UX Myth #28: White space is wasted space. You'll find even more information on this feature page on MediaWiki.org.

In the future, we, the Web team, would like to talk about the possibility of increasing the default font size (of course, having addressed a number of issues with tables, navboxes, infoboxes, etc.). That would be implemented together with an increase of the (still limited) default width. I'm not encouraging (or trying) to start this conversation now, though.

Thanks! SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 17:24, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Somewhat Agree. I understand whitespace is a critical, yet subtle part of web design, however there are times where I would like more text on screen at once, such as if I'm multitasking and cannot easily scroll the page. Perhaps a toggle button on the page between limited and unlimited width mode that dynamically resizes content (while keeping you where you were on the page) would be useful. Of course, I also understand that it is likely too late to even consider including design elements like that, but that is something I would appreciate. Deathstar3548 (talk) 22:14, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Deathstar3548 - thanks for your question! Such a toggle button is currently available. The button is available on the bottom right side of the screen and it is persistent as you scroll down the page. You can also set the width to default to full with from the appearance section of your preferences by unchecking the enable limited width mode checkbox. OVasileva (WMF) (talk) 15:28, 16 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Here we go again - there is a FAQ entry for turning off the new skin, but complete silence as to what I should do today to ensure I'm not switched away from my preferred skin: Vector legacy.

I'm not interested in Monobook, Timeless etc. I'm not interested in having a look at the new skin, even for a second. How do I decline the switch? CapnZapp (talk) 18:57, 15 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I believe you'll be switched, but you can immediately go to your preferences and click Vector legacy (2010) to go back. It's right above MinervaNeue and Monobook. —Femke 🐦 (talk) 19:56, 16 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Congratulations on Vector 2022, I like it! I think I was getting much of the appearance already because I had checked "Automatically enable most beta features" in Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures; I assume that preferences section had toggle(s) for the new appearance that are gone now that it's about to become the default. I don't know if this is worth mentioning on the page. -- Skierpage (talk) 06:32, 16 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Skierpage - thanks for your question! Yes, the preferences page allows you to switch the new skin on and off (as well as to choose any other available skin). It's located in the appearance section of the preferences page, under skins. OVasileva (WMF) (talk) 19:38, 16 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I have not tried this new skin , but if it is anything like the change on Simple English Wikipedia I will find it difficult for a while. That appearance, makes editing and moving around on Wikipedia tedious. I could be wrong and the new Vector is brilliant. But my general feeling is that ”if it’s not broken why fix it”. We have a great design of the Wikipedia at present. --BabbaQ (talk) 08:40, 16 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I get the impression that this skin is desktop browser only; is that right? But my understanding is that the majority of users use the mobile browser view, right? So what about that mobile interface – is there any change? Myself, I am increasingly aware of such mode changes as I switch from phone to Chromebook to Android/iPhone apps on both. And note that my Chromebooks have multiple monitor sizes including a swivel screen which will go portrait (HP Chromebase). Many people use multiple devices and so there ought to be some common approach to avoid confusion but my impression is that each interface is designed and developed separately. Anyway, this documentation should do more to make it clear which mode is being changed. Andrew🐉(talk) 20:56, 16 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Andrew Davidson - yes, you are correct, the change is only to desktop browsers. Thanks for calling that out! I made it a bit clearer on the page. In terms of mobile - yes, the majority of the users are on the mobile site. While we didn't focus on mobile for this project, there are many other projects across the team as well as WMF product that work on mobile specifically. Over the last couple of years, the main focus there has been on editing on mobile, but we are planning on making some improvements to reading on mobile as well in the upcoming year. While building the skin, we also considered bringing it closer in visual design to the mobile site, so that people reading on mobile can still recognize Wikipedia in its desktop form as well. We also aimed to reduce code for skins overall so that it's easier in the future to build features and adapt them across both desktop and mobile skins. OVasileva (WMF) (talk) 23:40, 16 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]