Steps to replicate the issue (include links if applicable):
- (If you have Advanced-Search enabled and do not see this interface, you need to disable JavaScript first)
- Go to https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Служебная:Поиск&profile=advanced&search=&fulltext=1&uselang=en
- The namespace list looks like this:
What should have happened instead?:
Currently this sorting shows every two namespaces together vertically and then goes horizontally left-to-right (or, I assume, right-to-left). This makes it harder to understand that this list is sorted at all (since usually people read these sorts of lists vertically) and breaks if there aren’t enough namespaces in the final row. I think today was genuinely the first time I’ve realised that this list is sorted at all, all because of this imperfect layout.
I want to propose grouping all namespaces in a single columned list and then grouping every two namespaces in their own <div> with column breaking prevention rules. This is entirely possible in the modern CSS and would make this list much more understandable.
Quick mockup by wrapping the namespace checkboxes in devtools in <div class="checkbox-wrapper"> (it can be still contained by 4 columns via CSS if needed) and applying this CSS:
.checkbox-wrapper {
columns: 13em;
}
.checkbox-container > :nth-child(2n) {
margin-bottom: 1em;
}
#mw-searchoptions .checkbox-wrapper .checkbox-container {
columns: unset;
margin-bottom: 0;
}
Software version (on Special:Version page; skip for WMF-hosted wikis like Wikipedia):
Other information (browser name/version, screenshots, etc.):
