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Requests for comment/Redirect Wikipedia Logo to User’s Native Language

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PROBLEM: When browsing Wikipedia in English, there is no straightforward way to return to Wikipedia in my own language (Portuguese), as there is no dedicated link. This requires typing the address manually in the browser bar, which makes navigation inconvenient in environments such as schools or universities.

I am a Portuguese speaker who frequently accesses Wikipedia in multiple languages. I have identified a usability issue: there is currently no direct link to return to Wikipedia in the user’s native language. The only options are manually entering the address or relying on indirect and time-consuming methods. As already exists on the "meta.wikimedia.org" domain, the link "/Special:MyLanguage/Main_Page" provides automatic redirection based on the user’s language.

At present, clicking the Wikipedia logo in the top-left corner redirects to the same destination as the “Main page” link in the left-hand navigation menu. This creates redundancy, as both elements perform the same function, while no simple option exists to return to the user’s native-language Wikipedia.

I therefore propose that the logo link be repurposed to redirect to the user’s native-language Wikipedia. This change would streamline navigation, enhance accessibility, and improve the overall user experience across all language editions.

As a proof of concept, I have developed a working prototype that demonstrates this functionality. You just need to click on the logo below to be redirected to the page in your language:

Main page
Main page

This prototype automatically redirects users to the main page of Wikipedia in their browser’s default language (English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, or any other supported language). Implementing a similar solution on Wikipedia would be technically simple while offering significant usability benefits to millions of users. This change would be particularly helpful for non-English speakers who frequently access Wikipedia in English due to the larger number of articles available.

This way, users could freely browse Wikipedia in any language, simply clicking on the logo to quickly return to their original language, as already happens on Wikimedia.

Thank you for your consideration. —Aquino510 (talk) 21:07, 1 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose Oppose This seems far more likely to be confusing than helpful to me. * Pppery * it has begun 15:30, 3 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Do you find WIKIMEDIA confusing? Because it already works exactly like that. Aquino510 (talk) 21:21, 3 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    "This seems far more likely to be confusing", What exactly do you find confusing about clicking the Wikimedia logo (which already works this way) and going to the main page in your language? Tell us here so we can also suggest a change in the mechanism. What difficulty are you having with clicking the page logo?
    Aquino510 (talk) 01:54, 4 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    The change language icon may not be well known for those who aren't aware of the feature. Ahri Boy (talk) 00:32, 12 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Translations (from the English version) of mainpage of Meta-Wiki are on the same single multilingual site. Different language versions (usually not a translation) of Wikipedia are separate monolingual sites. dringsim 08:31, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment Comment Is there currently any way for Wikipedia to find out the browser default language? If not then we should probably reconsider. And I agree with Pppery that if not communicated properly this would be immensely confusing to many. Chorchapu (talk) 01:20, 8 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Oppose, and pretty strongly, unless I've misunderstood the proposal. Firstly, as a cross-wiki user, I frequently interact with multiple wikis, and need to go back to the home page of that wiki. Secondly, what if the user has multiple home wikis or languages they're fluent in? Which wiki should be used? Thirdly, using location or browser heuristics (such as browser lanugage) is not enough (see point 2 for one reason why). And there are many non-native speakers of English who prefer reading on en.wiki compared to their native language's wiki due to the former's coverage and quality (myself included). Leaderboard (talk) 08:04, 13 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Not OP, but Aquino claimed that there is a link to the (current language) Main Page along with the logo. That link does show up on mobile (as the home button in the hamburger menu). For 2, the browser language can be changed trivially (Aquino's script requires restarting the browser, but I don't know if that's possible to avoid). And, the default link for wikipedia.org is searching on English Wikipedia. The ideal would be to read the language the user set on global preferences (instead of the browser's) and redirect them to that language and allow disabling/setting to somewhere else the link. Goodlucksil (talk) 18:50, 15 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    In this case, you just need to keep clicking on Main Page in the menu on the left, and it will remain exactly as it is today, leading to the wiki’s start page in the language of the article. Simple! Aquino510 (talk) 04:17, 19 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    OK I see what you both meant. My opinion remains unchanged, as this is something very few people are going to be able to figure out and will lead to a lot of confusion by users. Leaderboard (talk) 05:07, 19 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    By your logic then Wikipedia should be shut down, since few people understand how to edit source code, make hyperlinks, add categories, and other necessary things. If Wikipedia had thought that way in the beginning, it would never have started, since “very few people are going to be able to figure out.” Aquino510 (talk) 20:02, 19 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @Aquino510 Sorry, but there's a difference here. Your proposal is akin to having a key logo route to something that's in a different domain. That's not intuitive (and I've seen others get similarly confused in a non-WMF environment). Leaderboard (talk) 06:05, 22 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Oppose There are several Wikipedia logos that are actually specific to that Wikipedia language. Anniversiary and milestone logos are an obvious example, but there are also permanent specific logos.--Snævar (talk) 18:08, 21 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Oppose per above. Would make any crosswiki patrolling severely more difficult. We should strive to fewer clicks for a certain action, this would be a step backwards. A09|(pogovor) 08:47, 28 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Oppose, use your browser's bookmarks bar, please. --dringsim 15:56, 1 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Oppose – As many people pointed out, it can be confusing for other people coming from different versions of linguistically specialized projects, such as Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and Wikivoyage, unlike multilingual wikis, such as Wikimedia, Meta-Wiki, or MediaWiki. Dwccb10 (talk) 01:59, 26 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]
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