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[Page tools] Allow anonymous users to pin / unpin menus, reconsider default pinning states
Closed, DuplicatePublicFeature

Description

Feature summary (what you would like to be able to do and where):

https://en.wikipedia.org/?vectorpagetools=1
Page tools are not pinned to the right for anonymous users by default. Instead they are hidden in a dropdown menu ("Tools")

Use case(s) (list the steps that you performed to discover that problem, and describe the actual underlying problem which you want to solve. Do not describe only a solution):

<del>On Polish Wikipedia we have tools like "Report a bug". This should be visible for all users. And should be easily accessible.</del>, sorry, that is actually in the left sidebar. We have other gadgets in the right sidebar (report for removal, move to user sandbox, nominate to "Did you know..."). Not enabled by default though.

"Cite this page" is also for readers. Printing a page is for readers (print view and PDF).

Benefits (why should this be implemented?):

The page tools are both for readers and editors. They should be visible and usable for both.

  • Additional comments **

I think left sidebar should be hidden by default now rather then the right one (page tools). And preferences for both should be remembered in a storage that works without auth.

[Jon] The left sidebar is currently hidden by default. Being able to "remember" the hide/show state is blocked on T329557.

Event Timeline

Related:

  • T318169 [Page tools] Make page tools menu sticky
  • T317898 [M] [PageTools] Restructure page tools menu contents

On Polish Wikipedia we have tools like "Report a bug". This should be visible for all users. And should be easily accessible.

We have the same tool in the Russian Wikipedia, as well as a lot of reference materials.

Hi @Nux currently page tools is not enabled for anonymous users (but we plan to do that soon). Is this task about enabling the feature or revising the existing feature? You can preview the feature for anonymous users at this URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun?vectorpagetools=1

Yes, I was assuming that page tools for anons would follow. Not sure anymore which things should be visible by default though. Page tools are more for consuming content by default on plwiki and "Zgłoś błąd" ("Report a bug") in your demo-link is on the left side...
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun?vectorpagetools=1&useskin=vector-2022

But let's put that aside (pun not intended 😉).

The main problem is that readers are not able to show (or hide) menus permanently. By default, everything except the ToC is hidden, making it less likely that readers will follow other links that are made for them.

I'm also worried about this phrase from T259240 "We think option 1 does a good job of further differentiating the table of contents from the article, without significantly de-emphasizing the table of contents (which we regard as a critical interface element)." Don't want to be nit picking, because I do remember Olga said on one of meetings the team would also think about other links. So I know I'm repeating myself, but it seems the team is still very focused on ToC and making sure it's used, while neglecting other links and other ways to engage users. So you should at least allow users to pin menus.

Would be great if you could do A/B tests measuring engagement in links in hidden vs shown by default menus (how big is the difference?). Maybe check which links users click most often (and if that differs between pinned/unpinned). That would be great 🙂 (especially if you would share the results). Sorry, I know this a bit off topic and maybe you already planned this tests, but I think having some data might allow us to remove some links or shuffle them around. To be honest I'm not a fan of hiding stuff as "out of sight is out of mind", but I know you want less clutter so that people at least read Wiki more.

Jdlrobson renamed this task from Page tools should be similar for anonymous users to [Page tools] Allow anonymous users to pin / unpin menus, reconsider default pinning states.Feb 24 2023, 7:56 PM
Jdlrobson updated the task description. (Show Details)

Thanks! Super helpful!

ovasileva triaged this task as Medium priority.Mar 1 2023, 11:30 PM
ovasileva raised the priority of this task from Medium to High.Mar 10 2023, 8:16 PM
ovasileva moved this task from Not ready to estimate to Current Quarter on the Web-Team-Backlog board.