For many wikis the main page (or Home page) is often the most visited page and also the most important. It's where visitors, new editors, and long-time community members go to, sometimes even daily. It's also one of the highest priority pages for web crawlers, which is a great opportunity.

So, here are some best practices to for what it should look like, starting from the basics.

1. Interlinks

The #1 most important pracitce to employ on a wiki's home page is navigation. It should contain many links, but not to individual pages (mostly). It should contain links to category pages, or list pages with even more links. Your most used categories should come first as part of your navigation. Users should be able to find what they are most likely looking for just from exploring links off your home page.

2. Contributing

When a new user finds your wiki from a page or an article, if they're interested enough they'll find their way to your home page. If they're interested in helping, this is a large opportunity. Have an aside or another section, preferably visible from the top, where they can find links to learn how to contribute. A small reassuring statement that their contributions are welcome is also a nice touch. New users should be able to find resources that explain exactly how, from their position, they can contribute to your wiki.

3. Visual design

This should go without saying, but your home page is often at times the first impression for the quality of your wiki. It should always be consistent with whatever custom styling you have on any other page. If a user clicks on a link from the page, it should feel like they are in the same site as the home page they just left. Using images and other visual indicators is also a bonus.

4. What is your topic?

A lot of wikis forget to introduce their topic in a short sentence or paragraph somewhere on their home page. This can be great for new contributors and search engines trying to understand what your site is about. Preferably, you also link to a dedicated about page.

5. Contact

The best wikis include contact information or community outreach on their home page. This can be anything from a Discord server to a Reddit subreddit.

6. Location

The location of the wiki's main page doesn't matter all too much, but many wikis typically move the home page to somewhere such as /wiki/Home, /wiki/My_Wiki, or even the root of their domain (i.e., just mywiki.org).

For some examples: https://starcitizen.tools, https://minecraft.wiki/, https://obby.wiki, etc.

7. Dynamic content

Many wikis underestimate how useful dynamic content is. From an 'On this day..' box, to a recent changes section, or even a random trivia fact-list. This keeps a home page fresh and new every time a user revisits your site. It can also cause search engines to check your home page more often.

8. Remove categories

Every maintenance category should have the HIDDENCAT magic word so they do not appear on the main page. The main page should NOT have any visible categories.

Inspiration

Those were the main points on how to improve some valuable aspects about your main page. If you want inspiration on how you can make your own main page, check out the Inspiration Wall.