RE: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org
At 17:37 -0400 1999-10-11, Alex Schmelkin wrote: > 1. What browsers are different percentages of your user populations >using? > 2. What screen resolutions are different percentages of your user >populations using? > 3. What purpose will the site serve - simply providing information, >or a >marketing/evangelical need? How important are each of these considerations? > 4. Who is the ultimate audience? - Who needs this information, and why? > 5. What does the audience already know, and what do they need to know? > 6. What is the feeling or mood to be? > 7. What are some of the positive attributes of the current sites as >you see >them? What are some of the negative attributes? I couldn't agree more. OTOH, while everyone's reacting to the graphics Matt did, there was *some* attempt at creating a more logical structure... >If some of the 'powers' that be could answer these questions to the best of >your ability, it would greatly aid any web site redesign process to take >place, especially those that have the access logs and can give us better >insight into Question 1. FWIW, I'm no 'power', but my takes on the questions... 1) all of them. More accurately, a site like this should be designed to standards and only reluctantly make concessions to the the bugs of various browsers. 2) all of them. Well, probably not below 800x600 in the case of GUI, but it should be Lynx-compatible -- or negotiate to a Lynx-compatible version. 3) Purposes a good site should serve -- may have to be adjusted downwards, but here's my ideal... - mod_perl news. - mod_perl FAQs, developer's guides and documentation. - mod_perl evangelism, quantitative and anecdotal comparison with similar tools. - mod_perl mailing list archives (well, links to them, anyway?) - basic intro to mod_perl - where appropriate, demonstrate the power mod_perl (as in, actually use the darn thing on the site...) - search engines -- ideally a combined docs/guides/mailing list searcher. A great site showcasing a certain other technology is http://www.php.net/. 4) audience: webmasters, possibly those casting about for a solution that's better than plain CGI, or those looking for alternatives to their current environment (e.g. ASP). 5) what does the audience already know: - have to assume they are experienced web content developers. Whether they are already familiar with perl may be an issue to discuss. 6) What is the feeling or mood to be? Good question. Lately the Apache.org and Perl.com sites have a rather professional sheen to them. 7) Positive attributes of the current sites as you see them: - developer's guides. - personal touch. - not overdesigned, minimal graphics, focus on information. - no advertisements! Negative attributes. - somewhat random assortment of content. - Hard to navigate -- not easy to know what's behind each link without actually clicking. - doesn't use mod_perl on the site, or at least does not appear to. - inconsistent look. - somewhat unprofessional feel. - no search engine. -- Neil Kandalgaonkar [EMAIL PROTECTED] Systems Architect, Stylus Inc. http://www.stylus.ca/
Re: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org
At 4:40 PM -0700 10/11/99, Randal L. Schwartz wrote: > > "Jeffrey" == Jeffrey Baker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >Jeffrey> 1) and 2) are easy. All of them, and all of them. To design >Jeffrey> considering anything else is suicide. > >Seconded. Properly designed HTML works in the Nokia Communicator and >on my[*] 2000 pixel Monster Screen. It's not that hard. > > >[*] (Not really, but in my dreams... :) Hmmm, I *hope* your screen has a better than 20 x 100 resolution :-) Ray
Re: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org
Alex Schmelkin wrote: > 1. What browsers are different percentages of your user populations using? > 2. What screen resolutions are different percentages of your user > populations using? > 3. What purpose will the site serve - simply providing information, or a > marketing/evangelical need? How important are each of these considerations? > 4. Who is the ultimate audience? - Who needs this information, and why? > 5. What does the audience already know, and what do they need to know? > 6. What is the feeling or mood to be? > 7. What are some of the positive attributes of the current sites as you see > them? What are some of the negative attributes? 1) and 2) are easy. All of them, and all of them. To design considering anything else is suicide. -jwb -- Jeffrey W. Baker * [EMAIL PROTECTED] Critical Path, Inc. * we handle the world's email * www.cp.net 415.808.8807
Re: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org
> "Jeffrey" == Jeffrey Baker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Jeffrey> 1) and 2) are easy. All of them, and all of them. To design Jeffrey> considering anything else is suicide. Seconded. Properly designed HTML works in the Nokia Communicator and on my[*] 2000 pixel Monster Screen. It's not that hard. [*] (Not really, but in my dreams... :) -- Randal L. Schwartz - Stonehenge Consulting Services, Inc. - +1 503 777 0095 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/> Perl/Unix/security consulting, Technical writing, Comedy, etc. etc. See PerlTraining.Stonehenge.com for onsite and open-enrollment Perl training!
RE: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org
Hi All, While I'm sure Matt Arnold's effort to redesign perl.apache.org is greatly appreciated by everyone on this list, it seems to me that a bit more preparation and interface design should actually go into the final product. Before we redesign the mod_perl site, we need to have a more common vision of the goals and limitations of any redesign efforts. Design is not simply an exercise that exists to make things 'pretty' - it is a discipline to solve communications problems, and then to make things look 'pretty'. I ran our community's site by a 'human/computer interaction designer with more than 5 years web interface design experience' and he spit back a few quick questions: 1. What browsers are different percentages of your user populations using? 2. What screen resolutions are different percentages of your user populations using? 3. What purpose will the site serve - simply providing information, or a marketing/evangelical need? How important are each of these considerations? 4. Who is the ultimate audience? - Who needs this information, and why? 5. What does the audience already know, and what do they need to know? 6. What is the feeling or mood to be? 7. What are some of the positive attributes of the current sites as you see them? What are some of the negative attributes? If some of the 'powers' that be could answer these questions to the best of your ability, it would greatly aid any web site redesign process to take place, especially those that have the access logs and can give us better insight into Question 1. I think it's great that someone (thanks Matt) took the initiative to get this "redesign perl.apache.org" ball rolling again, and if we get enough responses to these questions I think we'll wind up with something great that really improves on the usability of the current site. I'm more than happy to compile the responses. Thanks, Alex > -Original Message- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On > Behalf Of Jesse Kanner > Sent: Monday, October 11, 1999 11:12 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org > > > > > On Sun, 10 Oct 1999, Matt Arnold wrote: > > >I have created a new page layout/template for perl.apache.org. > You can take > >a look at it at http://www.novia.net/~marnold/mod_perl/sample_3/ > Please let > >me know if you think it's suitable for use on perl.apache.org. > If not, how > >could it be improved? > > The look and feel seems OK, although I too like the idea of making it > more 'desert-ish'. I'm more curious about your plans for content > organization. The current perl.apapche.org home page is a bit of a mess. > There's very little sense of organization - just a lot of text and links > scattered all over the page. > > Will you have any comps of the second level pages? Which information would > go where? So far, your left hand nav seems pretty good, provided the > current home page content will fit nicely into the buckets you've > proposed. > > > -j- >
Re: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org
On Sun, 10 Oct 1999, Matt Arnold wrote: >I have created a new page layout/template for perl.apache.org. You can take >a look at it at http://www.novia.net/~marnold/mod_perl/sample_3/ Please let >me know if you think it's suitable for use on perl.apache.org. If not, how >could it be improved? The look and feel seems OK, although I too like the idea of making it more 'desert-ish'. I'm more curious about your plans for content organization. The current perl.apapche.org home page is a bit of a mess. There's very little sense of organization - just a lot of text and links scattered all over the page. Will you have any comps of the second level pages? Which information would go where? So far, your left hand nav seems pretty good, provided the current home page content will fit nicely into the buckets you've proposed. -j-
RE: Re: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org
I agree with remi. Make a little bit more... Tuareg, y'know? But it's great as it is! ./Ricardo --Original Message-- From: Remi Fasol <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Matt Arnold<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: October 11, 1999 8:51:40 AM GMT Subject: Re: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org >-- Matt Arnold <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > http://www.novia.net/~marnold/mod_perl/sample_3/ i really like the camel against the sun with the apache feather. > sure to include any good ideas you have about > alternate designs.) maybe you can make it more 'desert-y'. more like sandstone. maybe add a little red. remi. = __ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com ### Guitar fan Chris Black of London actually had a wedding ceremony to officially marry his Fender Stratocaster last year. ### __ FREE Email for ALL! Sign up at http://www.mail.com
Re: please comment on new art for perl.apache.org
>-- Matt Arnold <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > http://www.novia.net/~marnold/mod_perl/sample_3/ i really like the camel against the sun with the apache feather. > sure to include any good ideas you have about > alternate designs.) maybe you can make it more 'desert-y'. more like sandstone. maybe add a little red. remi. = __ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com
