I've taken a good look at the new PHP manual design. I am a webdeveloper
(and sometimes designer), and i've looked already through a "couple" of
pages :)
I have to say that it looks a bit like the manual is straying from its
initial purpose. Not that it actually IS, really, it is a manual after all.
But the new proposed enhancements seem, as far as I (and the person sitting
next to me who does a great deal of design) am concerned, the new proposed
design hinders readability quite a lot. A manual ought to be precise and
well-written, and while eye-candy is certainly attractive and can help in
leading the eye and not allowing for the reader to get too tired for
looking at the "same old text". The Konqueror help-system does look good,
but mainly because there are softer contrasts and the use of cool (cold?)
colors, blue in this case, helps a lot.
The new proposal doesn't help a lot for readability. Things ought to be
kept simpler, especially, with simples colours and not so many contrasts in
the text area. If I can manage to find some time, I'll try for a design of
my own, though I can't promise.
Bruno Ferreira
