Show something on no query

[JeroenDeDauw]

The UI looks somewhat weird if there is no query

I'm not sure there is a good way to improve the situation

[malberts]

At least for the "All" tab it is a MW "problem", since a normal empty search also looks empty:

Which is different than an empty result:

[alistair3149]

At least for the "All" tab it is a MW "problem", since a normal empty search also looks empty

Yes that is correct, it is a default MediaWiki behavior.
We can enhance the page by adding an empty state for the search result, and adding placeholder text to the search field.
That deviates from the default MW experience but it provides more affordance for the user on the search action.

[JeroenDeDauw]

It's weird that the All tab shows nothing while the People and Publications tabs do show results