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> Wikipedia is one of the best examples of a site where I prefer the desktop page on mobile. I actually have the opposite opinion, that the mobile wikipedia ve

> Wikipedia is one of the best examples of a site where I prefer the desktop page on mobile. I actually have the opposite opinion, that the mobile wikipedia version is much better-designed and intuitive. I prefer the mobile version on desktop.

ComputerGuru 12y ago
I absolutely despise the fact that all sections are collapsed on load on mobile. That means "search in page" is broken and Wikipedia without search in page isn't Wikipedia at all.
- icebraining 12y ago
  That only needs an "expand all" button; apparently that's been denied, though: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T21924 https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T21924
  - MatmaRex 12y ago
    That is an ancient bug report not related to the current mobile interface ("MobileFrontend"). I think it predates that by a year or two.
- speleding 12y ago
  You have "search in page" on your mobile browser? (My iPhone doesn't have that!)
  - DanBC 12y ago
    Chrome on iOS has in the burger menu "Find in Page". That burger menu scrolls.
  - ComputerGuru 12y ago
    It's iPhone's number 1 unknown feature. I've been using computers since I was two and it took me more than a year to find this: just type in the search term in the safari search bar, then scroll down in the autocomplete results (without hitting go or enter). It'll come up after autocomplete and history/bookmark matches - and it's been there since at least iOS 6. Worst. UX. Ever.
    - JTon 12y ago
      Well I'll be damned.
    - fatboy 12y ago
      The other one in a similar vein is pulling the search results down (before typing anything) to get 'Request Desktop Site'. It took a while before I stopped having to pause to remember where that was each time I wanted it.
    - lstamour 12y ago
      Before this, when iOS had separate search and URL boxes, typing in the Google search box would offer a prompt to search in the page since ... maybe v3 was it? Hence why that moved to the URL box when the boxes merged. Yes, it sucks.
  - wishinghand 12y ago
    It does if you use the Chrome browser.
- mjklin 12y ago
  Also you can't view the article's categories. You need desktop view for that.
untog 12y ago
I'd wager most people agree with you, despite the majority opinion you see on HN. User engagement levels have been higher on every mobile-optimised site I've worked on, when compared to mobile users looking at a desktop version.
- Zarel 12y ago
  This might be because any mobile-optimized site that tracks user engagement levels is more likely to be a good mobile site. People on HN don't say that all mobile sites are bad, just that a lot of bad ones are worse than desktop sites.
drzaiusapelord 12y ago
What mobile device is wikipedia designed for exactly? Its such a small and spartan design that it seems like the kind of thing you'd see on an early 2000's site when stuff like Palm and Windows Mobile came out. Why aren't the sections already opened by default? Why aren't there any images? My phone out-performs desktops from just a few years back. I don't need this super-minimalist wikipedia. I just need something that's slightly more responsive because I don't have the horizontal space to handle all of its columns properly.
- extra88 12y ago
  > Why aren't the sections already opened by default? If sections are all expanded, one has to scroll an unknown distance to get to the section one is interested in. If sections were to expanded by default, it would probably be better to not make them collapsable at all and instead include in the mobile layout the table of contents found in the desktop layout. However the table of contents uses anchor links which may be less usable in a mobile context (easier to lose your sense of place, a user's desire to not click links that may load a new page for performance and/or bandwidth reasons). I agree that an "expand all" option would be a useful addition, I didn't follow the link in another post that presumably explains why one isn't being added.
  - mattmanser 12y ago
    That's what anchor tags with an id tag are for, so it scrolls to the section you want. Which they use on the desktop but, wait for it, you can guess what's coming here, not on the mobile site...
    - epistasis 12y ago
      I feel like I've had so many conversations of this form: User: This doesn't work on your mobile site, why don't you just give me your desktop site because it works better? Mobile web site dev: We can't do that on mobile because X. User: But X is already a solved problem on the existing site. Mobile web site dev: Sorry, but we need to do a mobile site.
  - 12y ago
pbreit 12y ago
Wikipedia mobile is probably ultimately slightly better but uncollapsing through all the sections is dreadful.
saraid216 12y ago
I'd really like to be able to collapse sections from the bottom of a section, rather than scrolling upwards frantically trying to find the header so I can re-collapse it.
clarkm 12y ago
I really hate how the mobile version removes the ability to view article categories and talk pages.
stephenboyd 12y ago
Sometimes I use the mobile version of Wikipedia just so I can read text that's pleasantly formatted with limited line widths like almost every printed or post-1990's digital text. The wide-as-possible lines, which sometimes make me resort to putting my finger on the screen to keep track of what line I'm on, are a ridiculous legacy.

ComputerGuru 12y ago

I absolutely despise the fact that all sections are collapsed on load on mobile. That means "search in page" is broken and Wikipedia without search in page isn't Wikipedia at all.

icebraining 12y ago
That only needs an "expand all" button; apparently that's been denied, though: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T21924 https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T21924
- MatmaRex 12y ago
  That is an ancient bug report not related to the current mobile interface ("MobileFrontend"). I think it predates that by a year or two.
speleding 12y ago
You have "search in page" on your mobile browser? (My iPhone doesn't have that!)
- DanBC 12y ago
  Chrome on iOS has in the burger menu "Find in Page". That burger menu scrolls.
- ComputerGuru 12y ago
  It's iPhone's number 1 unknown feature. I've been using computers since I was two and it took me more than a year to find this: just type in the search term in the safari search bar, then scroll down in the autocomplete results (without hitting go or enter). It'll come up after autocomplete and history/bookmark matches - and it's been there since at least iOS 6. Worst. UX. Ever.
  - JTon 12y ago
    Well I'll be damned.
  - fatboy 12y ago
    The other one in a similar vein is pulling the search results down (before typing anything) to get 'Request Desktop Site'. It took a while before I stopped having to pause to remember where that was each time I wanted it.
  - lstamour 12y ago
    Before this, when iOS had separate search and URL boxes, typing in the Google search box would offer a prompt to search in the page since ... maybe v3 was it? Hence why that moved to the URL box when the boxes merged. Yes, it sucks.
- wishinghand 12y ago
  It does if you use the Chrome browser.
mjklin 12y ago
Also you can't view the article's categories. You need desktop view for that.

untog 12y ago

I'd wager most people agree with you, despite the majority opinion you see on HN. User engagement levels have been higher on every mobile-optimised site I've worked on, when compared to mobile users looking at a desktop version.

Zarel 12y ago
This might be because any mobile-optimized site that tracks user engagement levels is more likely to be a good mobile site. People on HN don't say that all mobile sites are bad, just that a lot of bad ones are worse than desktop sites.

drzaiusapelord 12y ago

What mobile device is wikipedia designed for exactly? Its such a small and spartan design that it seems like the kind of thing you'd see on an early 2000's site when stuff like Palm and Windows Mobile came out. Why aren't the sections already opened by default? Why aren't there any images? My phone out-performs desktops from just a few years back. I don't need this super-minimalist wikipedia. I just need something that's slightly more responsive because I don't have the horizontal space to handle all of its columns properly.

extra88 12y ago
> Why aren't the sections already opened by default? If sections are all expanded, one has to scroll an unknown distance to get to the section one is interested in. If sections were to expanded by default, it would probably be better to not make them collapsable at all and instead include in the mobile layout the table of contents found in the desktop layout. However the table of contents uses anchor links which may be less usable in a mobile context (easier to lose your sense of place, a user's desire to not click links that may load a new page for performance and/or bandwidth reasons). I agree that an "expand all" option would be a useful addition, I didn't follow the link in another post that presumably explains why one isn't being added.
- mattmanser 12y ago
  That's what anchor tags with an id tag are for, so it scrolls to the section you want. Which they use on the desktop but, wait for it, you can guess what's coming here, not on the mobile site...
  - epistasis 12y ago
    I feel like I've had so many conversations of this form: User: This doesn't work on your mobile site, why don't you just give me your desktop site because it works better? Mobile web site dev: We can't do that on mobile because X. User: But X is already a solved problem on the existing site. Mobile web site dev: Sorry, but we need to do a mobile site.
- 12y ago

pbreit 12y ago

Wikipedia mobile is probably ultimately slightly better but uncollapsing through all the sections is dreadful.

saraid216 12y ago

I'd really like to be able to collapse sections from the bottom of a section, rather than scrolling upwards frantically trying to find the header so I can re-collapse it.

clarkm 12y ago

I really hate how the mobile version removes the ability to view article categories and talk pages.

stephenboyd 12y ago

Sometimes I use the mobile version of Wikipedia just so I can read text that's pleasantly formatted with limited line widths like almost every printed or post-1990's digital text. The wide-as-possible lines, which sometimes make me resort to putting my finger on the screen to keep track of what line I'm on, are a ridiculous legacy.