> When you are logged in to Wikipedia, the updated header will move with you as you scroll
We need to stage some kind of intervention with web designers. There can't be a single person on the planet who actually likes this anti-feature. Why on Earth do they keep doing it?
Because most people like it and it improves metrics.
From the discussion on sticky header [0],
> Our preliminary results show that an overwhelming majority of test participants reported positive experience with a sticky header. Participants mentioned they enjoyed the ability to access important functionality from any part of the page.
> Overall, there was an average 15% decrease in scrolls per session by logged-in users on the 15 pilot wikis in the treatment group (with the new sticky header), compared to the control group (without the sticky header). This indicates that our hypothesis was correct - adding the sticky header to the page reduced the need to scroll to the top of the page significantly.
> there was a 2.8% and a 6.8% increase in the percent of people who were able to successfully complete at least one edit using the edit button within the sticky header,
It might improve stats for people who use the header, but I'm pretty sure that's a tiny fraction of users. I just want the screen space and consistent scrolling behavior, not a header popping in and out as you scroll around or reach the top of the page.
If it's static, at least it's not the worst kind (though I still "select element -> remove" when I see those): the ones that bounce down when you scroll up even one notch, covering the very thing you were scrolling up to see, are the web design equivalent of someone slapping you in the face.
Could you explain to me why this is an anti feature? It seems harmless at worst and useful at best to me, e.g., having access to the search feature and lagnuage select during scroll here. (Serious question, I feel like I am missing something after reading this thread.)
I guess I dislike it on mobile when it takes up too much space.
Mostly this. I visit a website to view its content, not its header. I don't need to waste 10% of the screen on something I will almost never use. On Desktop, I can press "Home" to get to the header in the rare instances I want to. On Mobile, screen space is even more valuable, so it's even more annoying to have to waste screen space on the stupid header (and no, web designers, the style that pops up and covers up the content you are trying to read when you scroll up one pixel is not a solution).
I just gave some thought to why it bothers me and I actually think some of it might be because they trigger a kind of "oh shit a 'search bar' add-on, kill it with fire!" reflex from the bad ol' days of most computers being full of malware and spyware (now the OS and most programs are spyware, so... progress?).
Of course the big ones are simply obnoxious wastes of space, and any that have a drop shadow on the content bother me for what seem like obvious reasons, but even the small ones bug me and I think that might be why.
[EDIT] That's just for the static ones—the ones that pop in and out based on scroll behavior are one of the worst design trends in the entire history of the Web, which is saying something, and are in an angry-making category all their own.
We need to stage some kind of intervention with web designers. There can't be a single person on the planet who actually likes this anti-feature. Why on Earth do they keep doing it?