Location: 10/20/09 - release

Discussion: Search box should be on the left:Reported This is a featured thread

Category: Discussion Forum / General Discussion
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Libb-Thims
Libb-Thims
Search box should be on the left:
Oct 26 2009, 7:13 AM EDT | Post edited: Oct 26 2009, 7:38 AM EDT
According to usability studies, search boxes are best placed on the left hand side (or middle):

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/04/designing-the-holy-search-box-examples-and-best-practices/

Eye-tracking studies show that people tend to scan new webpages using an F-shape scan method, with the bulk of the eye movement on the left hand side of the page:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html

This pattern occurs, generally, because 90% of people are right-handed. 0  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
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chrisco97
chrisco97
1. RE: Search box should be on the left:
Oct 26 2009, 9:14 AM EDT | Post edited: Oct 26 2009, 9:14 AM EDT
They moved it to the right because of the new layout coming. It will probably look better when the new layout comes.

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Libb-Thims
Libb-Thims
2. RE: Search box should be on the left:
Oct 26 2009, 2:15 PM EDT | Post edited: Oct 26 2009, 2:15 PM EDT
You can see the new layout on this WP central 10/20/09 release discussion page (above) and it does not look better (aside from the new drop-down options). The new changes (bigger signin button and new search box row) have shifted the usable content of the wiki down by about 1-inch, leaving barely 2.75-inches at the bottom of an 8-inch screen to function as a wiki. See the screen shot:

http://image.wetpaint.com/image/1/wSqUqYJ7icQVlgeGof2etg229507

The search box should go back above the right drop down menu and the "trouble signing in" and "want to remove ads" queries should go below the menu. Beyond that, the colored top browser bar should be shrunk.

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