It’s also based on years and years of feedback, both from casual audiences as well as admins and editors. This isn’t the first time we’ve done this! But it’s certainly the biggest visual change that we’ll have made to Fandom’s look and feel since 2010, and we recognize that it’s going to be a big transition for Gamepedia wikis in particular. It’s been designed based on things we’ve learned from past experiments and previous attempts at changing the design of the platform. Put more simply, it’s the site’s desktop skin.
It may not be the majority of traffic, but it’s certainly the skin used by the majority of you who are the stewards and lifeblood of your community.įandomDesktop is the new unified look and feel of Fandom and Gamepedia wikis. So it’s important that we get FandomDesktop right. After all, while many of you use the mobile experience as well and while mobile does account for the majority of our traffic, wiki editing and maintenance is generally a desktop experience. Now it’s time for what’s on everyone’s mind: what the new and unified design will be on desktop for Fandom and Gamepedia wikis. We’ve also transitioned all Gamepedia wikis and, so far, 30% of Fandom wiki traffic to the new FandomMobile skin, the first phase of our new unified mobile experience. We’ve taken a big whack at fixing key quality of life bugs over the last 2 weeks, and you’ll be happy to hear that, moving forward, a more sizable chunk of our development teams’ time and resources will be focused on constantly improving existing and new features, improve the “quality of life” for all users, and operate a platform that has fewer and fewer bugs as we move forward. Over the last few months, we’ve all but completed the migrations to the UCP and are close to closing the door on the legacy platform.
After all, when you’re building a car, you have to make sure the engine is running well before you worry about how to paint the frame. So far, most of our focus with you has been on that first phase.
When we announced the UCP, we said there were two phases-the technology (aka how the platform works on a technical level) and then the look and feel of the wikis themselves. Good callout, we should probably back up a bit and reset some context after a long UCP process. In fact, there’s one particular piece of information later in this blog that is the most exciting announcement that I’ve ever been able to bring to you. It’s a modernized look and feel for Fandom, with really important elements brought over from Gamepedia. I’m not just saying this because I work here-I’m incredibly excited about FandomDesktop. And I’m really excited to dig into these designs with you. This blog is really long, but it’s an effort to deliver on that commitment now and in the future. You’re going to see what this project is and is not, the kinds of feedback we’ve incorporated, where we’ve drawn from lessons learned on both Fandom and Gamepedia, and what the different experiences for readers and logged in editors are.Ī few weekends ago at Community Connect, one of the commitments we made is that “more is more.” More transparency. You’re going to see what the new FandomDesktop experience looks like. One of the most often-asked questions throughout the migrations to the Unified Community Platform (UCP) has been, “what will the new design be for the platform?” That’s what we’re going to dig into today.