Jump to content

Wikipedia:User experience feedback/search box

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
< Wikipedia:User experience feedback

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 87.243.151.162 (talk) at 22:54, 19 May 2010 (→Search box on the left). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.


brief remark on search function in new Wikipedia

I think the search box should be much larger and more prominent on the Wikipedia homepage. It's basically the whole point of Wikipedia (the other stuff, featured article and news and whatnot, is just window-dressing) and yet in the new design it's tiny and hidden away in the top corner and you can hardly see it. Put it front and centre!

TOO SMALL

The current search box is ridiculously small and annoying! It can be at the top, but must be wider, like a search engine, e.g. Bing

SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!
SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!!!!!!!!

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.88.212.43 (talk) 13:54, 19 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Bring it back to the left...if possible put it so that the it stays in the same spot on the screen (lower left) even when scrolling through the article. (Something similar to Google with it's search function)

new search feature - worse than before. you can't see the search result

Yeah, search field is broken. Type something, hit enter, it "forgets" the last few letters you typed. Every time. You have to stop and wait and let it think about it and catch up to your typing - even though what you typed displays fine immediately.

This is insane. Text entry fields on webpages are a known technology. How the hell do you screw it up?

Let's put is simply. 3-5 secs to search for the Search Box. Let us say 11 million hits visiting the Wikipedia worldwide DAILY. That is 11 million secs lost, which amounts to 3055 person hours lost DAILY because of the "improved" layout. Another reason the search box should NOT have been changed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.88.212.43 (talk) 15:46, 19 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

SEARCH BOX ON THE LEFT PLEASE!

ANOTHER AGREEMENT TO SEARCH BOX BACK ON THE LEFT!

IT WAS FAR BETTER WITH WIKIPEDIA AND ITS SEARCH BOX ON TEH LEFT. IT IS SO INFURIATING NOW BEING IN THE TOP RIGHT AND TINY!

MOVE IT BACK PLEASE!

When searching (film), (album), etc. on long name searches one cannot identify what the rest of the search box says. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.233.10.43 (talk) 00:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Search box on the left

Since a lot of menu is on the left it just felt naturally to have a search box on the left under the text. Thought the search box on the right is nice to have as a padding filler...Perhaps have two search boxes?

Silly that I can make actual changes to the wikipedia without a login - that actually effect others beyond myself, but I have to create a login in order to change back to the old wikipedia (which didn't SUCK)which would only effect me... assinine.

Having the Search Box in the upper right corner is putting it both: "Out of the way" and "In a very inconvenient location". It should be moved back to the left so it's more easily accessible (and visible for that matter). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wick-iedWanderer (talk • contribs) 15:26, 18 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]


please move it back to the left. altough its okay to force people change their habbits, it is VERY illogical to have every other important feature on the left hand side EXCEPT the most important one. it is very unpleasant and irritating,l it also breaks with every traditional internetsite navigation there is. maybe with some time we get used to it, but its very inconvenient and impractical. the new layout has been online for probably 2-3 weeks now, i still move the cursor to the left intuitionally. it just doesnt feel right to have it up there, out of sight, in the wilderness, desperate and lonely.....

please move the search box back to the left!

otherwise: the new layout is ok, im not a fan of drop down menus, but i understand that you want to show what you've got. wikipedia is a great project in human knowledge and communication, im glad it exists! 87.243.151.162 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC).[reply]

Search box eats my keystrokes

Like at least one other person, I find the search box to be particularly voracious for my keystrokes. Just now, I wanted to know the land area of Africa, so I type "africa" into the search box quickly, then hit Enter. I ended up on the article for Afric Simone. Thinking I may have missed the "a", I did it again, and got the same results. Then I did it again while watching the box closely, and saw the complete word "africa" typed out, followed by the "a" getting lopped off between when I finished typing and when I hit the enter key.

Only bad things happen when you try to make the interface more clever than the user. The contents of the search box must be read-only to everything but the person doing the typing. Anything else will result in nothing but frustration.

This is a bug that needs to be fixed. It happens because your keystrokes exceed the pace at which the javascript suggest box can search. When you press enter, you expect it to take the input you have given it, not whatever the search box is doing. - hahnchen 22:31, 13 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Search box should be at the left of the main page

I got used to the search box at the top left of the Wikipedia main page. It should be relocated there. Whenever people go to Wikipedia, the first thing they do is entering a search term. Things that are most important on a page should appear at the top left - just a matter of 'intuitive' logic - alternatively, a Google-style minimalistic start page with the search box prominently placed in the center might also be worth a try.


a Google-style minimalistic start page with the search box prominently placed in the center might also be worth a try

like this?: http://wikipedia.org/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.243.151.162 (talk) 22:49, 19 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

search bar on the upper right? Nah.

search bar on the upper right? pfft! no, no, no, and NO!

Search Bar on Other Side of the World

I have mixed feelings about the new appearance and layout of the site, but I simply can't stand the search bar being in the upper right corner. The new appearance might be okay if it was put back to the left side, where I'm used to searching on most websites.

ABSOLUTELY!!! Move it back to the left.

New design is slick but please ...

Hey guys,

The only problem I have and some of my colleagues and friends as well is : "Where is the search ?". It takes 3 to 5 seconds to find where it is. I understand that it can be a smart move because in Firefox the search is not to far from the 'firefox search' but still humans have habits that are hard to change. So maybe you should duplicate it and add a search in the left menu. It's maybe not best to duplicate from an ergonomics point of view but it's either :

  • Move "Search" back to the left panel
  • Duplicate "Search" inputs
  • Keep like that... even if not a la of people likes it, they just have to cope with it

I reckon solution 1 or 2 is probably the better :)

Thanks guys for your work and efforts anyway. Wikipedia is one of the best human creation in the world. Knowledge is priceless!. Thomas

If it ISN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!

Sorry to sound so bold, but some of the features of this new layout, such as the search box being placed in the upper right hand corner is just completely unnecessary and inconvenient.

I see that a lot of other people feel the same way. Please reconsider giving us back the simplicity of the old layout, Wikipedia.

Wikipedias recent update is bad. There are two prominent kinds of UI update that most sites have been adopting, in my eyes at least. There are the sites that appear to be developing a "future" look, and those that go to a "past" look. Those that strip the site of templates and add a very basic system like youtube, trying to backdate the system; or those like wikipedia, trying to make the site more futuristic.

The search bar has been moved as with other features, and as a result wikipedia has became much harder to use.

I could whine on about many things, but all in all, the change in navigation layout is the largest problem.


It was brilliant before, and now it is not, and the change seems pointless. Please revert the layout. It does not seem like a 'user friendly' decision to change it.

Thanks. As a long tearm wikipedia user, and someone who defends the website in every case, I appreciate the oppourtunity to express my opinion.

Put the Search Box Back!!!

The search box is now very difficult to use. Not only are thousands (probably millions) in the habit of going to the left for it, it has only a few character spaces available to view. When I begin typing in it, "..." appears in just about every drop-down options, making them impossible to read. As to the other changes - were there any? I can't say I really noticed. It still looks too boring to notice, so I don't really care one way or another.

Wikipedia seems (at least to me) to be a site centered around search. My suggestion is simple: not only should you return the search to the left column, but you should KEEP the search at the top right and ADD ANOTHER search bar at the bottom. Or what about a search bar that follows you as you scroll? On the left hand column. Please please please please please please please please bring back the left column search bar. Soon.

Search is slow...

Whenever I type something into the new search box and press enter (and I type pretty quickly), it'll cut off the last few letters. For example, when I just searched for "John Keats" all the letters appeared, but then the last two disappeared and it only searched for "John Kea". I think this has to do with how long it takes to calculate new search options, because when I wait for a new search suggestion list to be tabulated after the final letter and then press enter, it works normally.

Also the search is in an annoyingly weird spot..but whatever.

The previous wikipedia is a success mainly owing to its convenience and speed and good fund of information, but its SPEED now is absolutely disappointing. TOO SLOW. If compromising the speed and convenience it offers is the price to pay for a new appearance, I'd rather it look old. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.132.0.125 (talk) 00:33, 19 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

put the search feature back where it belongs

The search feature is my primary way of using Wikipedia. IMO, it belongs in the left hand navigation area, where it was.

PLEASE RESTORE THE PREVIOUS/PRIOR LOCATION OF THE 'SEARCH BOX'

WHY DID YOU MOVE THE 'SEARCH BOX'??? It used to be much more convenient when it was located on the upper LEFT side of the Wikipedia page. [Previously, for example, if one had their Internet 'Favorites' list open (which opens on the LEFT side of a Windows computer screen) and (especially) if they have 'Wikipedia' located at or near the top of their 'Favorites' list, when they clicked on Wikipedia and accessed the main page, the (old) Search Box would appear on their screen immediately (right-)adjacent to the 'Favorites' list from which they had just clicked. This was both visually and practically/motorically-speaking (for the hand, using either mouse &/or keyboard) more user-friendly than your new Search Box location. -- If you wish to locate your Search Box on the right side of your page to appeal to people who are used to seeing it on that side on other websites, then have 2 Search Boxes - one on each side (you could make everybody happy; and I have seen this on some websites). But, frankly, 'LEFT side' makes more sense since we (and I think most cultures do) read 'left-to-right' - we are thus visually trained/accustomed to reading things this way. But the right-sided Search Box is clearly not as convenient for people who access Wikipedia via their 'Favorites' list (for the reasons stated above), so can you please restore the previous left-sided Search Box? ...And while you're at it, can you please add/insert some clickable "Return to top" (i.e., 'Go back to the top of the page') buttons every so many inches down each Wikipedia web page? These would be much more convenient to use, rather than having to use the scroll bars to navigate back up to the top - especially when a very long web page is involved and/or when you only want to be using your mouse for navigation and not be continually switching back and forth between mouse and keyboard (keyboard being the only way to access 'Page Up' &/or 'Home' keys). The 'MedLine Plus' website uses these 'Return to top' buttons on each of their individual medication pages and it is a very convenient feature. Thank you for your consideration.

HEY, THE SEARCH BOX MOVER MUST BE REALLY THICK AND TOTALLY INCOMPETENT. GIVE HIM A BOOT AND PUT THE BOX BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!118.93.84.178 (talk) 02:31, 15 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Search bar that follows you

I think that the search bar, as well as everything else on the left column, should be placed on a floating bar that follows you as you scroll down the page. This way, someone who has scrolled halfway down a long page can easily access the toolbar. Besides the positioning of the search bar, I think the theme is pretty nice.

Search bar move... bad move

The search bar is one of your most important components on your site. If anything, it should be in the top center.

Change for change's sake is Evil

Specifically, there was nothing broken about search-on-the-left, so there was no reason to change/move it.


Once and for All

There is a way to change it!!!! Just change the skin to MonoBook again, and/or disable new features. If you're not logged in, why are you here? Isn't this page for Users? 2D Backfire Master lovably sardonic 11:08, 14 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Search bar is hard to find

Please rethink the search bar placement/design. In my opinion, it must be somewhere in the main (left) navigation, and, if possible, a little wider / more prominent.

I think we can agree that most Wikipedia users are searching for a particular article, and given that most users start reading a web page from the top left [1] [2] [3], it makes the most sense to put the search bar near that area.

The search function is, in my opinion, Wikipedia's best feature ... please don't hide it.

What kind of an idiot would move the Search Box? Maybe he has been previously employed in Office 2007 redesign.118.93.84.178 (talk) 02:27, 15 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]


After being flummoxed as to where the search box had been moved to, I found it. But why does ti some-times have the word "search" in it and other times not? A stylized magnifying glass is at best ambiguous.Kdammers (talk) 04:04, 16 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Too short

I like it the way it is, but it should be longer. Thanks, Tommy2010 02:42, 15 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed. They've improved it since this skin was first made default (It used to abbreviate long titles and showed no tooltips). Although they've introduced the tooltips that were in the old skin, half the title disappears under the browser's vertical scrollbar or whatever. It needs more work and as you said, it can be longer. The space between Discussion and Read is totally wasted. -- Karunyan, 08:05, 16 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Search Box Malfunctioning

For me, using firefox 3.0.19 on Mac, when I enter something into the little search box and press enter, it doesn't search everything that I entered into the box. It cuts off some of it; sometimes all of it. So if I entered "Bond 23" and press enter, is just searches 'B'. However if I enter "Bond 23", pause, and then press enter, then it searches for the whole term. This never happened with the old search bar. So there seems to be something wrong with this new search bar. It's really annoying.

Seems other people are having this problem too. THIS IS SO ANNOYING!!!! Sigh...IAmTheCoinMan (talk) 07:58, 15 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Please Return the Search Box to the Left

All the other changes are great. Why? Because they are improvements. Moving the search box, however, was not an improvement at all. Please move the Search Box back to the Left. Thank You. --Park Ave Historian (talk) 08:10, 15 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

On top of cutting off my results when I type too quickly, and on top of the poor search box placement (both as mentioned by others), I hate the following scenario: I click the search box and, in the process of letting go of the mouse, impulsively drag it down a bit from the search box. Then, I type out "principle", and, coincidentally, the second result in the drop-down, "Principle of Relativity", ends up beneath my mouse and highlighted. I press the enter key, thinking that I'll be redirected to the page for the word that I typed, but, instead, I'm taken to "Principle of Relativity", because that's what the drop-down put beneath my mouse. If I wanted to go to that article... I'd click on it. Please, don't just ignore what I type and, instead, go to what's beneath my mouse. If you're going to do the "enter key works with what's highlighted in the drop-down menu" thing, please don't highlight a suggestion until the mouse has been moved. Please! --129.89.186.250 (talk) 08:23, 15 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

autocomplete is debilitated

If your autocomplete results are long and begin with many of the same characters, you won't be able to tell the difference between the options. Because the bar is too far to the right and you can't see the whole result. Just put the bar back on the left please.

How do you do a text search?

Excuse me if either this has already been mentioned a million times, or if I'm being stupid, but I just noticed that the "text search" feature seems to have disappeared. This is what I mean. If I type "Athelstan" (say) in the search box, then whatever I do I seem to get taken to Athelstan of England. I used to be able to click "Search" to search the text of all articles for the string "Athelstan", but now that feature seems to have disappeared. If I type a string of nonsense, like "kjuahsdkjahs", that has no article, then I get taken to the search page where I can then type in my desired search string -- but surely that isn't how it's meant to work? 86.135.28.105 (talk) 22:58, 15 May 2010 (UTC).[reply]

Too far-right

I don't care if it's at the top, but the autocomplete is pointless for long titles like Wikipedia or Wikipedia talk space pages. Please move it to the top left, or even center.

Will one other comment on the right menu make a difference? :)

I do 3 things on wikipedia: look at home page, search, follow links. Search is the only part of the ui that I use.

Search box requests:
- consistantly positioned relative to top left of page.
- Easily viewable (not too far from the top left).
- automatically gets focus when page loaded
- enter key linked to search (already the case)


(and to get all "spanish inquisition" on you: I do 4 things. Edit articles... and give feedback.... 5 things!.... and make donations, 6 things!!)

Please have two search boxes

I have to admit to some bewilderment as to why the search box was moved to the top right, considering that a search box on the left is a standard feature of most MediaWiki installations (not just Wikipedia). There's obviously a lot of confusion on this point, so to get the best of both worlds, how about having two search boxes? Keep the one at top right, fine, but also have one in the original location in the left menubar, since that's where many people are used to looking. An option in preferences could also be added, to let people toggle their search box location, or toggle any unused box on or off. For the immediate term though, I strongly recommend adding a search box back to the lefthand menu. --Elonka 23:29, 16 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. Many of us old time users are so use to the previous interface that having two search boxes would be nice. Those of us who have been accustom to the old ways, and those who haven't. --AllyUnion (talk) 18:36, 17 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Lol, there can't be two searchboxes. It would look stupid. No doubt, the best place for the searchbox will be found soon.KenyaSong (talk) 22:02, 17 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Of course there can be two searchboxes. It's a simple interface change, and would probably address most of the complaints that are coming in. To try and say "well, our usability testing showed that upper right is better", does not seem to be meshing with actual practice. Having two searchboxes, even if only temporarily, would help people people transition. I'm also of the strong opinion that a search box should remain on the left, because there are many wikis using MediaWiki software popping up around the web, which have search boxes on the left, so that's where people are naturally looking to find the search. To *not* have it there, is jarring. --Elonka 16:47, 18 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Why would it look stupid? Just saying that the "best place for the search box will be found soon" doesn't solve the argument, just sweeps it under the floor. Elonka's suggestion is reasonable. Personally, the fact that it's in the upper left corner is a little redundant in usability especially when most current browsers have a search engine toolbox where you can "adapt" additional search engines (such as the Wikipedia). But that's just me. --AllyUnion (talk) 01:32, 19 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Put it back, please.

The search box should on the left, near the other controls. If it's a space issue, the toolbox would make more sense on the upper right. The search box belongs with the general navigation and content links on the left. I detest this skin for a number of reasons, but this is the worst part of it. I'm a registered editor, but I'm not bothering to log-in for this comment. 72.229.55.107 (talk) 03:08, 17 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I haven't read all of the complaints, so mine may well be a repeat. I don't think the search is as effective as it used to be. Once I found the search box, I entered my query. I was looking for info on Nicholas Barbon. I typed "Barbon" fully expecting his name to pop up somewhere. It doesn't. Seems like in the good old days, a historically prominent individual with a full wiki article devoted to them would have been found with such a search. I eventually found what I was looking for, but only after going at it sideways.

I am also against all change - please put the search function back in the navigation panel on the left!

Poor testing.

A study size of a mere 8 users, for a drastic change to a site with several hundred thousand users, is simply unacceptable. A drastic rearrangement of the core element of the site (without the search box, Wikipedia is essentially useless) requires a far larger sample size.

eye tracking + search box placement

I appreciate the we-do-our-own-research attitude… much better to do some user testing than none at all. However, I think the uproar over the logo revision is a good reminder that there are real experts out there, that finding someone who's competent to do the job isn't enough.

It's good you wanted to know that people could find the search box before you went ahead and implemented the change. But that doesn't mean it's in a good place. And it doesn't mean that you didn't happen on the perfect placement before.

Four points, two hanging on my professional cognitive scientist standpoint (not that I know what's what exactly, but this is the sort of thing I've spent time around), one from my designer standpoint (not that a lot of other people who've left comments aren't more high profile designers than I am) and one I arrive at by taking the "I wonder what others' studies have found" approach rather than "I wonder what my study will find.

1) The search box should not be at the top of the page, but low enough to be seen after scrolling down a ways, so that it available both from the top of the page and after reading most of a screen's worth of an article. This will let users read a mid-length article, or the intro to a long article, and search for something new without scrolling up.

2) My suspicion is that most images are floated on the right. Certainly infoboxes are placed on the right. Text is left-aligned and ragged. This all (the first two, and the third given the first two) effectively brings the right margin in a ways. Sticking the search box to the right of the screen puts it in the margin space - which experientially means you're putting it beyond the bounds you've been looking within.

3) I googled "eye tracking web page" images. It took a minute. I won't bother including a bunch of links. You can, and should have already, done this search yourself. The immediate conclusion looking at everyone's heat maps is that you spend the most time on the left, close to the top, and from there attention peters out quickly moving right and a little less quickly moving down. People seem spend time attending to the top left only when there's something there - and it's true web designers (myself included) like to have something up there, I suppose for balance, so this is a good user strategy but suggests that it isn't an area people "want" to find data.

4) Being able to see the search box even when not at the top screen may turn out be an important factor in WP's success: the search box is in a high-attention area for a long time, and its imperative "Search" repeatedly tells the user to look up yet another subject. Hidden by the scroll, there won't be that reminder, and it may be easier to navigate to some other site.

A part of the webpage you want people to use a lot should be toward the top left. On a site like WP, that thing is the search box. On a site like WP, people will often be scrolling down - so something that starts in the top left will quickly go off screen. The ideal then seems to be a search box a little ways down on the left, within the highest-attention zone both from the top of the page and from half a screen lower.

So, congratulations, that's exactly what was first intuited in 1.0!

Add to that the fact the very real value of familiarity (maybe the people you tested didn't notice, but I only noticed that "check out the changes" banner and sleek background while scanning for the answer to "hey what the hell happened to the search box?!), and I'll be using the old version as long as I can. — eitch 01:35, 18 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]


Yeah i also feel that search box original place was much better....now its pretty non intuitive to look up and find the box —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.126.210.234 (talk) 14:24, 19 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:User_experience_feedback/search_box&oldid=363095851"