User blog comment:Atarumaster88/Wikia's New Feature/@comment-1978336-20140401035807/@comment-20644-20140401142406

''Even if it has to be big, the notifications showing who has liked the page still could've been made collapsible, or the entire system could've been placed in the sidebar. It looks out of place in relation to the rest of the layout in its current incarnation, in terms of both color and placement, as well as size relative to the other buttons at the top of the article.''

All possible placements were tested. This was the most effective one, per my previous comment.

''Additionally, while it is fine to have a simple system that makes it easy to show that other users approve of each others pages, I can't help but fear that this will further discourage users from going that extra mile and explaining what they like and dislike about a page. That is something which is in my opinion critical to helping other writers improve their work, and users now more than ever seem to be less and less willing to do that, at least on the wikis I frequent.''

Sometimes peoples' thoughts are limited. It's the same reason why the Forum feature has a kudos button on posts. If your only comment is "I agree" or "I like this," then instead of posting a very short comment you can just click kudos. Same goes for the like button; if you just have something quick to say, like how you're a fan of the page, click like instead of leaving the comment.

Which brings me to...

''As for liking pages on Wookieepedia and similar wikis, I disagree. One might argue that this might be used as a way for users who aren't really part of that specific wiki's community to show that they approve of the work that the community there has done, but I don't see this feature being used in that manner so much as it being used as a way for other members of that community to pat each other on the back for a job well done. Not to say that communities supporting and encouraging each other in this way is a bad thing, but I don't feel that this should be done directly on the article itself, but rather that it be reserved for more informal places like forums or chatrooms. But only time will tell, I suppose.''

One thing that encyclopedias, like Wookieepedia, have been resistant to sometimes is discussions about the subject of a page. Take the Luke Skywalker article, for example. On the talk page, you can only talk about the Luke Skywalker article, but you can't talk about Luke Skywalker. Being able to "like" a page goes a long way towards improving that user experience.