I use Wikipedia on a daily basis. Often, several times a day and continue to find it as one of the most complete and up to date sources of information. I also find the site extremely easy to use and have been analysing it to figure out just what it is that makes it so user friendly.

So, I thought I would share with you, some of the unique features of Wikipedia and just what it is that makes the website so easy to use.

Jump – to / Quick navigation menu

Each Wikipedia  entry page has a vertical sub-menu towards the left of the page, immediately after the introductory paragraphs. The great feature about this is that it not only gives you an instant overview of all the types of information available on that page about the subject but clicking on any item within the sub-menu also makes the page scroll down to that part of the information within the page.  For subjects for which Wikipedia has quite a lot of information, this is especially useful and a great way to save time and quickly find the information you are looking for.

The location of this sub-menu is also quite logical – positioned after the opening paragraphs. I imagine that most users find the information they are looking for within the opening paragraphs and for those who want to delve deeper within the subject, they can use the sub menu to find their way through.

Annotations

Approx. 96% of information within Wikipedia pages is cited with the relevant source of reference via a superscript number in straight brackets which isn’t uncommon. However, clicking on a numbered reference immidiately scrolls the page towards the bottom to that source citation. What’s especially useful is that the source highlights in blue making it immediately clear  which source of reference you clicked on. This is very useful and almost essential in a site like Wikipedia which in many cases cites hundreds of references in a single article.

Images

Finally, every image listed is marked with a little “window in window” sign to indicate that clicking on an image opens it in a new page, within the same browser window. Strictly speaking, I think this signs actually indicates that clicking on the image will open a new page in a new browser window, I suppose this icon is still useful to the group of beginners and intermediate Internet users.

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