Wikiversity talk:Main Page 0.5

I reduced the height of the top bar some. It seemed to me that doing so may give more emphasis to the content down the page. On the other hand, I scaled the logo so it is a tad distorted, and this may be undesirable. This could be worked around by moving the logo, just using the current undistorted logo with the regular proportions and making it smaller, or keeping the header the way it was. --Remi 17:48, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Simplify
I think that this page is still too text-heavy, or at least too cluttered. I would prefer simple, clear language; a few well-chosen and relatively intuitive links (over loads of confusing ones); and a means of exploring and getting started. I'd also prefer if the boxes could match up instead of cutting off over/below others. That's my very brief comments for now - more when I've caught up properly! Cormaggio talk 16:32, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Could you offer some suggestions for the text? The "welcome" box has already been shortened quite a lot. Should I aim for something even shorter? Perhaps you could draft an alternative for the development box? --McCormack 17:06, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Layout: I've experimented with some fixed height boxes - seems to work under IE7. It's rather experimental and may not convert well between different screen sizes - but what do you think? --McCormack 17:17, 1 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, I'm sorry for just dumping a general critique and not actually being bold! I'll have a go on the text, but overall, I think it would be better to have more graphical and/or intuitive elements to give an immediate impression of what Wikiversity is, rather than having to read a clump of text spread out over a wide box. The current layout is better; we just need the content to fill the spaces now! I would also suggest the middle column should be devoted to "getting involved/orientated", rather than more specific project details, which you have covered in the left hand side. Cormaggio talk 09:00, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Some editing done - I've removed the "worldwide, multilingual" part with the intention of having a "Wikiversity in other languages" (or "..around the world") section below. Btw, (in Safari, but not Camino), the development and community boxes are now being overlaid on the sister project box - dunno why that is... Cormaggio talk 09:30, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
 * On "filling the spaces": technically, this is impossible, as on different screen sizes the boxes will have different width and height, and therefore different volume. If you write text to fill the box on your screen, on somebody else's screen the box will have too much content (and will then push out the alignment), while on a 3rd person's screen there will still be space left to fill. What I've done is to experiment with some "minimum heights". If we then tolerate empty space inside the boxes on most screens, it will ensure that the alignment also remains precise for most screens. It's a trade-off - better alignment at the cost of empty space inside the boxes rather than below them. --McCormack 09:46, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
 * BTW, I found your earlier choice of colours excellent! The current default scheme is called "Variation on Cormaggio", with the tan and mauve exchanged (left/right --> right/left). --McCormack 09:50, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
 * "Variations on Cormaggio" - sounds quite classical! ;-) Oh yes, white space is necessary - I think we need to manage it gracefully (though the lower boxes are still broken in Safari). I've hacked away at some of the text, and added some sample content in the "project" box (which I've focused on "getting ionvolved"). Cormaggio talk 15:30, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Screenshot
I'm adding a screenshot showing how it appears for me (Safari, Mac, screen resolution: 1024x768). Is there still no way of making the sections somewhat more harmonious? Is there meant to be a space under "More featured projects"? (This seems to be pushing the "community" section lower than it needs to be - and out of line with other 'second-row' sections.) Fwiw, I know from my (limited) web design experience that 'tables within tables' is one way of keeping boxes aligning with each other... Cormaggio talk 12:22, 21 April 2008 (UTC)