Wikipedia:User experience feedback/search box

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• A straw poll is being conducted here: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Usability/Search box poll 2010. --AllyUnion (talk) 02:50, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
• The search box cannot currently be used for searching Wikipedia when an article with the same name as the search string exists. See bug 23558. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 16:51, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
  •  Fixed --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 07:32, 21 May 2010 (UTC)
• The behavior of automatic search suggestions in the current SimpleSearch box is different from their behavior in the old search box. See bug 23611. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 13:55, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

WHO THE HECK IS THE EINSTEIN THAT DECIDED TO PLACE THE SEARCHBOX ON THE RIGHT? OMG! THEY NEED TO BE FIRED RIGHT NOW... NOBODY WANTS TO GET USED TO IT! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.136.93.96 (talk) 14:06, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

The left side is the most logical one for the search bar

I agree that putting the search box where it was would be a very good idea. I have a feeling that most users tend to have their mouse pointer on the left side of the screen because this is where the Back and Forward buttons and the brower's menu entries are located, just like the Google search box in the Google toolbar. The wider your browser window, the more your hand will need to travel to reach the search box. Why change something when it is in its best and most natural location? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.203.25.70 (talk) 19:15, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Everything's Messed UP!

I'm running Firefox 3.6.3 for Linux Mint. I can't even see the search box when I'm on an article page. The tabs are all messed up too, so "discuss" is hanging over the article. To look up a new article that isn't linked in the one I'm reading, I'm having to click "discuss" and My mouse hand wants to go left to enter a new search, so I'm having to retrain it. I don't even see the need for a redesign at all. It just "happened" to me - I didn't beta test the new design or anything :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.41.52.50 (talk) 12:46, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia Search Left

Can you please move the search box back to the left, please and thank you.Strangersound (talk) 12:11, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

I do agree. Please move the search box back to the left. Or at least, let it as a possible choice for any wikipedia user. (Cliohist) 20:11, 10 June 2010

I'm sick and tired of how websites start off good, and then slowly get infected with bureaucracy. Google started off great, but is now full to the brim with obfuscatory JavaScript designed to spy on people and make it difficult to determine how to defend against it, whilst undermining usability when JavaScript is disabled. The cursor doesn't even default to the search box anymore without JavaScript. Whilst this option would be inappropriate for Wikipedia's search box due to anchor issues and others, the mentality is the same. We start off with a good system, and then some imbecile decides to change it and force that change as a default; the only way to revert is to submit to the possibility of user profiling caused by creating an account. While this is not a problem at the moment, the way things are going, it may well become so in the future. I suggest we either have the option for the 'new look' available to registered users, with the old scheme a default for anonymous users, or a new subdomain like old.en.wikipedia.org to cater for such users. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.77.137.144 (talk) 16:43, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia Search Box

Look, when someone goes to wikipedia it is to search for information on a topic. So why would you have the search box at the very very very top right corner of the page???? I mean WWWHHYYYY would it not be one of the obvious features of the page? That makes ZERO logical sense. The entire reason someone goes to wikipedia is to SEARCH for a topic. And to stick it in the extreme top right corner like some random tertiary element of the page.. You are trying to kill your site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.203.163.99 (talk) 07:15, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia Search Box

Please move the Search Box back to where it was, its difficult to see and find. Or At the very least make it bigger, and move it so that it is dead smack center of the Wikipedia main page. I come to wikipedia to search on a topic not necessarily to see "what happened today in history" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.123.49.85 (talk) 02:11, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

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 Bar

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)

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)

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)

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)

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!

The search box should be on the LEFT, where, I believe, it once was. When you go to a page, you start at your upper left, so, ergonomically, that is where the mouse pointer is usually placed. So a search box at the upper left would be easier to use than having to mouse all the way over to the right. User: hoccomocco. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.154.252.9 (talk) 09:52, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

87.243.151.162 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:43, 19 May 2010 (UTC).

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)

With the search box on the right, I can't see the suuggestions that pop-up because the suggestions go off my screen to the right. I'm not changing my setting on my pc because they are perfect for me. This is the only site with which I have a problem in this sense so PLEASE move the box back to the left! Plus, I find the box on the left to be easier to spot with the rest of the menu items. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.233.235.53 (talk) 03:45, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

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)

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.

Regular trends in popular websites' "user friendly" updates are bad.

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.

Search

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)

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)

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)

you dont have to be logged in to be a user. so yeah, its for users, but for all of them, not just the ones with names. 87.243.151.162 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:58, 19 May 2010 (UTC).

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)

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)

Too short

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

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)

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)

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)

I Hate the New Search Box

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)

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).

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Wikipedia as home page

Something I think hasn't been mentioned yet is that a search box on the left is convenient if you have Wikipedia as your home page. At least for the Mac, you open up a new window from the upper left hand corner of the screen. This would make a upper left hand corner position for the search box the closest to your mouse cursor's current position when the window opens. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.223.96.244 (talk) 17:36, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

== Wikipedia Home Page Search

WHERE IS IT? Its like tryin to find wheres waldd.

You guys need to back of the hard drgs: 99% of these "improvements" are actually distractions.

DEATH TO THE NEW WIKIPEDIA. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.88.33.253 (talk) 20:30, 20 May 2010 (UTC)

Search Button

On wide screens having the search button so far over makes it out of the regular sight of view, return it to the left as it will be more easily located and like other users have said more prominent feature of the sight. (anyone that follows the roman alphabet reads left to right after all)

~ sandyer —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.90.50.10 (talk) 08:42, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Much better now – Thanks! – Could be better still

My main concerns about functionality of the new search box have been fixed:

1. The dropdown now expands leftward to accommodate long titles.

2. The "containing..." feature restores access to full search results. (Its position at the end of a dynamic list is less convenient than a fixed-position button, but at least it's available.)

I still have a couple ease of use issues, primarily because I very often paste text in the search box using a mouse (IE7). These are relatively minor, but they make for a fiddly user-experience.

3. One cannot right-click to paste text in the search box without selecting it first. The old search box did not require an extra click to select.

4. The dropdown is not triggered by pasting with the mouse. The old search box was the same in this regard, but the difference is that, without a persistent "search" button, one must make a superfluous keystroke to expose the "containing..." feature.

I would still prefer that the iconic magnifying glass button deliver full search results rather than "I'm feeling lucky," but you can't please everybody.

Q: How many Wikimedians does it take to change a light bulb?

A: All of them — Everything is done by consensus.

Many thanks to all the folks who are working on this. ~ Ningauble (talk) 16:50, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Re: the magnifying glass behavior, it seems potentially highly confusing to trigger a different behavior when clicking the icon than when pressing "Enter". Users may consider both of these to be the same "default action", and the difference in behavior is not immediately understandable (the default action also attempts a full-text search if no title match is found). IMO the "containing" approach is the most intuitive method proposed so far to give permanent access to full-text search. (Very few ordinary users I've ever talked to understood the difference between "Search" and "Go", hence Bugzilla:577.) But, there may be ways to make it more understandable and accessible still.--Eloquence* 17:52, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Ningauble: I reported the issue that you describe in #3 here - mediazilla:23611.

Eloquence: It's possible that i hold the minority opinion, but i found the "Go" and "Search" buttons perfectly logical since the first time i saw them. See mediazilla:23588 mediazilla:23558. (You are mentioned there and not disrespectfully.) --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 18:25, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Ok Eloquence, the way I stated that was overly specific (just like the result of clicking "Go"). What I really mean is that I would prefer the default result be search results. Alternatively, persistent tools could be afforded for both options without using too much real-estate by using a right-pointing arrow for "Go" and a magnifying glass for "Search." (Considering Google's ubiquity, I find it hard to understand how the dual option could be mysterious to people.) ~ Ningauble (talk) 19:00, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Amir: Neither of the Bug#s to which you linked pertain to the issues discussed. Typo? ~ Ningauble (talk) 19:28, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Corrected mediazilla:23588 to mediazilla:23558.

mediazilla:23611 is what i meant. The search box in Monobook immediately goes to the article if a search suggestion is right-clicked or left-clicked. But getting to the suggestion using a keyboard arrow pastes it into the box. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 20:03, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Your point #4 makes sense, even though i use mouse paste quite rarely. I reported it as mediazilla:23622. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 20:47, 21 May 2010 (UTC)

Point #3 appears to have been a false alarm (or perhaps it was fixed): If I wait long enough after the page appears to have rendered, then the text box will take focus from a right-click. I assume the latency is due to JavaScript still initializing the page, or it could be an IE bug. (This is unrelated to Bug#23611.) ~ Ningauble (talk)

It has come to light elsewhere that problem #3 is not caused by when you click the search box, but where you click within the box: right-clicking on the word "search" does not work, but right-clicking elsewhere within the box works correctly. ~ Ningauble (talk) 12:49, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Another complaint

The search box isn't where it should be. It is not user-friendly at all. As I already noted in the poll - if you thought this change is user-friendly, you're wrong. Wrong-wrong. Wrong as in "wrong". And, even if you weren't wrong, you still were wrong, because you are wrong. Please undo this abomination of a change. I can almost hear the search box crying, and water doesn't do good to LCD, you know.

Also, the new design rocks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by KsbjA (talk • contribs) 12:42, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

Special:Preferences > Gadgets > Focus search box on load

In Special:Preferences > Gadgets I have "Focus the cursor in the search bar on loading the Main Page." checked. On the Main Page, I can start typing immediately though the word "Search" doesn't disappear; so my search text is on top of the grey word "Search", making it unreadable. Did I make sense? Alex Muller 10:50, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Search Box Autocomplete

The trouble is that when you begin typing something into the search box and it gives you suggestions. If you want a suggestion as the beginning of your search term, but crucially not the entire search term pressing return takes you to the page, rather than completing the box and allowing you to carry on typing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by DanielWaterworth (talk • contribs) 19:04, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

Hi!

I was wondering if would it be possible to have the selected string autocompleted when the user type TAB in the search box. For example, after typing "math" it is shown a list with

• Mathematics
• Mathematician
• ...

If we press down arrow to select "Mathematician" and then press TAB, nothing happens (using Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; pt-BR; rv:1.9.0.6) Gecko/2009011913 Firefox/3.0.6). It is expected to have the word "Mathematician" auto completed for easy use of the search box. Helder (talk) 11:39, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

By the way: this is a regression, because on monobook the text was autocompleted when we pressed down arrow key to until get a list item... Helder (talk) 22:21, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

New Search Box & Languages

Like others, I prefer the searchbox on the left. However, I also prefer the old search function. Have a more difficult time finding what I need with the new search function.

I also preferred having the language list available on the left sidebar.

You might wish to consider an actual survey tool for taking a user survey on the new look and functionality. One where a user can answer questions by clicking multiple choice radio-button responses to questions, with perhaps a couple of open text box questions at the end. That is, if you actually want user feedback. If not, keep things as they are and proceed without user input. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Phrasis (talk • contribs) 23:32, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Search Box

Abruptly moving controls from one corner to another corner, is the dumbest thing one could do in User Experience. Please fire the guy who suggested this, and Hire people with Common sense, not with UI degrees. Most unproductive in this society are the UI guys!

I hope some one in the top is listening. Take action!! Not every one would have the patience required to search for a small text box all around. You are losing trust.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.94.181.75 (talk) 03:03, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Prefer search box on left

I use Firefox, and the WP search box is now directly under the FFx search box. I've accidentally googled "WP:something" more times than I can count, and I've only been in Vector for a day or 2 now... I might get used to it, but I still prefer the left. Arakunem^Talk 14:43, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Please listen to us about the search box

As a software developer, I understand the need to improve software to remain competitive in the marketplace. I also know that "improving" a website is usually little more than updating the logo, colorscheme, and moving all the shit around to make it seem like someone spent some time to make the site better. The reason that I (and many others I think also) love Wikipedia is its simplicity. I love seeing websites that haven't gone over to the flash/javascript/html5 model of "let's make everything shiny with animations and crazy swirling fades between each page!". While you haven't gone that far, I believe an accurate analogy would be if firefox/IE/safari/chrome moved the back, forward, refresh, home buttons, url and search boxes to the bottom of the web browser. They could say "our studies have shown that users primarily view content on the top half of the browser, so we moved some controls to the bottom to allow a seemingly greater viewing area and enhanced browsing experience". How would you feel if that happened? That's about how we all feel now. Please move the search bar to where it used to be. Thank you.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, FIX AUTOCOMPLETE!!!

This is something that would seriously make me not want to use Wikipedia ever again. There is a "glitch" (I'm sure it was done this way on purpose) where autocomplete will highlight whatever is the closest if your cursor is near the search box (both if you are copy/pasting something to search for and if you're typing your selection in.) At first I thought it was just random, but I realized it was the relation to the cursor below the search box. Anyway, please just put it back the way it was. There should be more than enough evidence that people do not like the change. I guess I will just have to get used to putting my cursor above the search box after I click on it when I'm getting ready to type in a search...Holgatej77 (talk) 23:15, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

Ditto, happened to me as well. The new look in general is too much Javascript-heavy. Not everyone runs a quad-core, you know? I really don't see what you tried to fix with this new look, because to be it did not look broken. 123.225.212.94 (talk) 02:46, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

Active Search Box as soon as Wikipedia Homepage is loaded

The new place of the search box is ok I think. Change is good and the users will soon get used to it, in my opinion...
However, as Wikipedia got visually improved, it should have been more accessible, too. I use Safari (Windows) as my browser, and when I want to visit Wikipedia, I do these actions in order:

1. Ctrl+T (for a new tab)
2. Press "E" (and then "en.wikipedia.org" appears immediately, since "en.wikipedia.org" is the most visited website, which begins with "e")
3. press the Enter Key
   

Now, here I can actually easily make the Search Box active by just pressing the Tab Key once. But I also could just type what I want to search immediately. I know that this is not that much important; but it was equally not important to Google, Ekşi Sözlük, YouTube, Yahoo!, Google Translate, etc., too.
I don't think that this is something hard to make, although, I am not even slightly educated about it...
--ThoAppelsin (talk) 14:07, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

Active Search Box

Allow me to join the chorus line regarding the topic "Active Search Box as soon as Wikipedia Homepage is loaded". This feature is common and essential on most sites with a search box and it has always irritated me that wikipedia doesn't have this feature. Should be standard so you don't have to be a registered member to activate it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jakobm1 (talk • contribs) 20:38, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm Sick of Searching for the Search Box!

Dear Wikipedia,

I suffer from lack of sight in my right eye and I found that, until recently, Wikipedia was the only site which accommodated for this disability. In my profession, as a researcher for a local childrens' hospital, I regularly use Wikipedia to brighten the lives of children with terminal illness.

Please move the search bar back to the left where it rightfully belongs.

Yours sincerely, Dr. F. P. Strauss.

Yes or no

Please at least tell us if anything is going to change. I would too like the search box to be moved to the left. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.175.255.124 (talk) 07:22, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.89.172.193 (talk) 23:21, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

MOVE THE SEARCH BOX TO THE LEFT PLEASE!!!

Its really not user friendly where its placed on the right side of the screen. All the other tabs are on the left and if you have a widescreen you have to move your cursor all the way to the right. its a pain in the ass, nobody wants to get used to it. Stop dickin around with the website look, keep it the same. Nobody likes changing something good into shit.

Another selection issue

If the cursor is over the list of suggested search terms then if return is hit to initiate the search, the article whose title is under the cursor at the time will load instead of the article whose title has been entered into the search box. Most suggested terms lists will not override the text entered if the cursor happens to be left near or over the list - a click should be required to select it, it is counter-intuitive, and I don't see why it should be done here. I originally posted this on the bug reports page, because it is such a stupid strange "feature" that I mistook it for a glitch. --GW… 19:06, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Searchbox issue on Symbian OS

I have a nokia E51 with Symbian as an OS. There is an issue however when I want to use wikipedia: anything I enter in the search box is shown as a black box and not as a character. The result is that I can't see what I type. This wasn't the case in the old layout.

I know symbian is bad, but it seems to me that this isn't desirable behaviour. Codegrinder (talk) 21:10, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Bug report

If I hit "Enter", I want to search for the word I typed, not for the word that happens to be highlighted because my mouse happens to be on one of the suggestions. This cannot be by design, it must be a bug. Please fix it, it's driving me nuts. Thank you. Hopefully acceptable username (talk) 09:37, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

This has been reported at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/May 2010 skin change/Bug reports#Search box selection issue, where it is claimed that this "feature" (interpreting a keystroke at the text insertion point as a left-click at the mouse location) is indeed by design. ~ Ningauble (talk) 16:03, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

Thank you, I left a comment there. This is ridiculous, I always thought WP developers knew what they were doing. 205.228.108.186 (talk) 07:27, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Issues with smaller screen

Hello, When viewing the wikipedia frontpage on a school computer (which is basically square shaped) the search box basically vanishes off the page, don't know if this has already been reported ?

Thanks, StephenBHedges (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 17:25, 13 June 2010 (UTC).

Search box bottom padding

The bottom padding of the search text should be equal to the top padding or at least increased slightly more as the current padding gives an impression that the text is clipped. (Test Browser: Chrome) WikiOn ( t | c ) 06:54, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

RELIEF: I FOUND SOME SOLUTION =

This link shows the search box like I want it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search
Aaaaah what a relief.
I put it to my favorites.

Search Box Location on Page

I think majority of the scripts / languages are written or read from left to right side, maybe thats why majority of the wiki users prefer the old search box location. This might be because the eyes of most of the users focus first on left top of the page. I prefer the old search box location. Please revert it back, I am sure majority of wiki users will like that.

Please stop testing this new layout on us. It's no improvement. Bring the old one back. Especially the search box. Thank you.

how about prioritizing my keystrokes over the suggestions in the search box?

Please make the search box work like every other search box in the history of ever. I don't care where you put it. I just wish it worked properly.

I can understand why a lot of people are upset about the location of the search bar, and that annoyed me too for a while. But the real problem here is that every time I type something into the search box and hit enter, I find out that the search box has decided to "interpret" what I typed as a "suggestion" rather than, you know, actually showing me what I'm looking for.

This is annoying. Extremely annoying. What's even more annoying is that after I realize I'm at the wrong page, I go back to the search box, begin typing again, hit enter, and end up somewhere else. Meanwhile, if I type in what I want, then carefully select the words I typed exactly as I typed them, I end up at exactly the topic I was looking for. So I mean it's not like I'm looking for pages that don't exist and it's giving me the next best thing.

As we type, the drop-down menu can offer suggestions or completions of our phrases. And if we like these suggestions, we can hit the down arrow or use the mouse to use them. But why is the search box making decisions? Aren't I supposed to make decisions? If I wanted a random article, would I use the random article link over there?

It's seriously gotten so bad that it's easier to just mouse up a little bit more to my browser's google bar and use that to search Wikipedia. Was this your goal all along? To save infrastructure costs by letting google handle your indexing? Lame.

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my suggestion. 71.182.136.214 (talk) 18:50, 16 June 2010 (UTC)