Aldrin, I'm liking it! Definitely looks nice. Though I would provide a bit of feedback: I'm not sure that I would include the NiFi logo on the right-hand side, since it's already in the top-left. >From a NiFi 'brand' perspective, I would update the screenshot a bit. This >screenshot is using the old logo in the top-left corner, and the graph shows >all of the data disappearing before the RouteOnAttribute Processor. I'd >recommend we construct a dataflow that's more appealing to the target >audience, perhaps integrating with other Apache projects (HDFS, Kafka are >possible, for instance) or using (S)FTP processor. Does it make sense to have maybe like a 'Latest News' section or something where we could post things like "Version 0.0.1 just released!" etc.? I'm really liking the concept - nice job! Thanks-Mark
> Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 07:00:52 -0800 > Subject: Re: Website Theme > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > > I like it. > > On Mon, Jan 19, 2015 at 8:50 PM, Aldrin Piri <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I found some time today to provide another look for the site. There > > were very minor changes to the core HTML as is currently served at > > nidi homepage and it is largely just a stylesheet. This one is highly > > minimal and clean, still driven by Bootstrap and directly makes use of > > the colors from the UI itself. > > > > A screenshot can be seen at > > > > https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apiri/apache-nifi-site/screenshots/index.html.lite.png > > with the associated code under the "lite" branch at > > https://github.com/apiri/apache-nifi-site/tree/lite > > > > Any thoughts are appreciated. > > > > On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 9:54 PM, Aldrin Piri <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Sorry if this somehow gets sent twice. My first submission seemed to > > > bounce as it exceeded the spam threshold when I sent it a couple of > > > hours ago and it has yet to appear, so I'm sending again. > > > > > > First and foremost, good feedback. I think UI/UX stuff is tricky and > > > I am happy to find my livelihood in the plumbing and behind the scenes > > > work. > > > > > > Here's my attempt to try and tackle all the comments in one fell swoop: > > > > > > I agree that Bootstrap is everywhere, but I don't necessarily think > > > that is a bad thing. One could argue that interfaces of all forms are > > > converging and users have the instant familiarity of a known quantity. > > > I know that I am totally unaware of what it takes to make a site both > > > functional and maintain its feel across devices. I think that last > > > part is important. Personally, as a user on the other side of the > > > screen, I don't really understand why sites do not work or jive with > > > my mobile device du jour these days; it should just work. With what > > > little I've learned about UX and "Not Making [Anyone] Think,"[1] I > > > want an effortless experience; no pinch zooming, tap panning, etc. If > > > there is a way to take bits and pieces of bootstrap to this end to > > > support that aspect without the cookie cutter air, I would be quite > > > thankful for some guidance on that front and do my best to provide it. > > > Out of the box though, the sample looked pretty decent across all the > > > devices to which I had access, and used constructs everyone who views > > > content through a tiny screen is accustomed. > > > > > > I do agree on the front of the possibility of brand dilution, and I > > > think it is an excellent point for consideration. As mentioned in my > > > original mailing, consideration was given to integrating the > > > application's aesthetics into the core site. Not sure if this will > > > pan out in an appreciable way as I can see it in my mind, but I do > > > feel it is an avenue worth exploring. It may also completely miss the > > > mark, but with my new found web dev prowess, it should be a much > > > quicker iteration than the first draft. You'll see a slight homage to > > > this via the graph wallpaper that is featured in the application > > > itself. This was muted a bit by a CSS overlay to a level that seemed > > > okay, but I definitely hedged as to whether or not to include it. > > > > > > Ultimately, I wanted to get something out to start the ball rolling, > > > establishing a base for successive iterations. I know that with all > > > the hard work everyone is putting in, the project is closely reaching > > > its first milestone for release, and thought it important to chip in > > > where possible to give a face to the project. > > > > > > Additionally, I think this particular project needs pictures to > > > demonstrate what it's capabilities. One of the facets that makes me a > > > believer about NiFi as a whole is that the end user is not just > > > developers. Citing the previous example of Accumulo, its intended > > > audience is very technical in nature and, accordingly, a lot can be > > > expressed via the simple phrase of "key-value store." I would contend > > > that NiFi's reach is far broader and can't be done justice with a > > > simple phrase. For the casual potential user who has strung together > > > n-many processes of taking a file, manually transforming it, and > > > moving it elsewhere, they need to see at quick glance that there is > > > something that can automate this tedium and make them more effective. > > > Succinctly, the value proposition needs to be there not only for the > > > technical folks who will use this as a framework, but additionally for > > > end users. > > > > > > The background for the header isn't awesome, but I knew I wasn't > > > violating any licenses if I generated it myself. I viewed it more as > > > a placeholder than anything else. Definitely not a front end web > > > developer, even more definitively not a graphic artist. The colors > > > came from starting with the logo dark blue and running a whole bunch > > > of filters and plugins via GIMP to get something. Additionally, there > > > is a CSS gradient applied over top of it as well when it seemed a bit > > > too loud. It could definitely deal with being muted a bit more. > > > > > > [1] http://www.sensible.com/dmmt.html > > > > > > On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 12:57 PM, Tony Kurc <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> Hey! It looks awesome! The existing site was put together a placeholder > > and > > >> we went with a very generic layout that worked well with Apache CMS and > > >> contained all the information expected of an apache process. > > >> > > >> This is a big improvement! For people new to the project, it gives a > > nice > > >> upfront screenshot, with big fat links for things I care about people > > >> seeing! > > >> > > >> Some things I didn't like about the existing site are the glyphicon > > links > > >> to "external" sites on the menu. I used "link", but I think it was > > meant to > > >> be used for "permalink". Also, we kind of took a best guess about what > > >> should go in each dropdown in the menu. I'm pretty sure it could be > > better > > >> organized. I'd also like to see the awesome guides that people wrote > > have a > > >> consistent theme with the website and maybe have pdfs so old-school > > folks > > >> can print them out (which may be a dumb idea ;) ) A pet peeve of mine of > > >> projects is having a hard time finding the documentation I need, like > > >> javadocs or specifications - and keeping around the older versions of > > the > > >> documentation. I think we're still working on these - since you retained > > >> the menu up top it should be straightforward to have a robust > > documentation > > >> dropdown. > > >> > > >> The blue you used is more of a reddish or purplish blue - the blue used > > in > > >> the app is more of a greenish blue. I'm kind of curious what a greener > > blue > > >> would look like ... did you mock one up and it looked bad? Or maybe a > > more > > >> fundamental question, should the website evoke the theme of the app? I > > >> don't know how I feel. > > >> > > >> Tony > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 11:59 AM, Joe Witt <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> > > >>> I'd say the two sides of the spectrum as examples are: > > >>> > > >>> http://kafka.apache.org/ [super minimalist] > > >>> http://aurora.incubator.apache.org/ [ quite fancy looking ] > > >>> > > >>> Both in my opinion are beautifully done and make it easy to get the > > content > > >>> needed. > > >>> > > >>> I think these (and others) provide great examples that both sides of > > the > > >>> spectrum have merit. > > >>> > > >>> What is most important to me is that we as a community rally behind > > those > > >>> with the expertise and willingness to contribute in this space. > > >>> > > >>> Thanks > > >>> Joe > > >>> > > >>> On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 11:34 AM, Joe Witt <[email protected]> wrote: > > >>> > > >>> > Both are bootstrap based. Each is an iterative improvement. And we > > just > > >>> > keep iterating as folks have time, willingness, and expertise to do > > so. > > >>> > > > >>> > I agree that this new look does not distinguish a brand. But we're > > not > > >>> > mature enough to worry about that yet. We just need enough of the > > right > > >>> > info laid out enough to help grow a community and get folks the info > > they > > >>> > need. We need it laid out in a way that multiple folks can > > contribute. > > >>> > Once we have a release, recruit some committers, demonstrate > > progress on > > >>> > the Apache Way and grow then perhaps branding becomes a bigger deal. > > >>> > > > >>> > ..this motivates me to spawn another thread about the type of > > community > > >>> we > > >>> > want to be... > > >>> > > > >>> > Thanks > > >>> > Joe > > >>> > > > >>> > > > >>> > On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 11:13 AM, Adam Taft <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > >>> > > > >>> >> This isn't a downvote -- I think it indeed looks good. But in > > terms of > > >>> >> constructive criticism... > > >>> >> > > >>> >> I think the mockup looks like a very generic "bootstrap" site, > > similar > > >>> to > > >>> >> a > > >>> >> million other bootstrap based sites. I'd personally almost prefer > > the > > >>> >> existing utilitarian website over a bootstrap theme, simply because > > it > > >>> >> doesn't try to be anything more than what it is. > > >>> >> > > >>> >> This approach might be an acceptable tradeoff for the project; > > having > > >>> the > > >>> >> bootstrap look & feel is obviously a resource savings and available > > at > > >>> the > > >>> >> right price point. But the site mockup definitely doesn't > > distinguish > > >>> the > > >>> >> Apache NiFi "brand" in anyway. In fact the opposite, the brand gets > > >>> >> watered > > >>> >> down with this look. > > >>> >> > > >>> >> As a funny side note, humorously for me, this was the first thought > > in > > >>> my > > >>> >> head when I saw the site: > > http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-04-01/ > > >>> >> > > >>> >> Adam > > >>> >> > > >>> >> > > >>> >> On Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 7:39 PM, Aldrin Piri <[email protected]> > > >>> wrote: > > >>> >> > > >>> >> > In partial fulfillment of the goals of NIFI-162, I set some time > > aside > > >>> >> to > > >>> >> > put together something a bit more visually appealing as a face > > for the > > >>> >> > project. > > >>> >> > > > >>> >> > My work can be found at: > > https://github.com/apiri/apache-nifi-site > > >>> >> > > > >>> >> > Currently, work focused around the homepage, but similar styles > > would > > >>> be > > >>> >> > applied to more content driven pages minus the large headlining > > >>> >> sections. > > >>> >> > > > >>> >> > The relevant technology colophon is provided in the README on > > Github > > >>> >> but is > > >>> >> > primarily driven by Bootstrap, existing image resources included > > with > > >>> >> the > > >>> >> > project and current site, and other "artwork" which I created > > myself. > > >>> >> > > > >>> >> > I am neither a UX expert nor am I a renowned front end designer, > > so > > >>> all > > >>> >> > input is welcome. As a "version 1.1" I would like to adjust the > > site > > >>> to > > >>> >> > converge more with the application. Ideas for this are inclusive > > of > > >>> >> points > > >>> >> > such as bringing the toolbar styling and color scheme from the > > >>> >> application > > >>> >> > to the site. > > >>> >> > > > >>> >> > If this seems like a reasonable path forward and there is > > sufficient > > >>> >> > support, I can look at the next steps to get this integrated with > > the > > >>> >> > project, optimization, and integration with the application > > itself. > > >>> >> > > > >>> >> > To aid in showing the intangibles that can't be seen from an > > image, I > > >>> >> have > > >>> >> > a copy of this design hosted at > > http://aldrinpiri.com/apache-nifi/. > > >>> The > > >>> >> > links are currently nonfunctional as they were taken from the > > current > > >>> >> site. > > >>> >> > > > >>> >> > Thanks! > > >>> >> > > > >>> >> > --Aldrin > > >>> >> > > > >>> >> > > >>> > > > >>> > > > >>> > >
