Re: [boost] Re: Front page redesign...

From: Rob Stewart (stewart_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-11-29 16:15:23

From: Rene Rivera <grafik.list_at_[hidden]>
> 
> By the way I have been making incremental changes to the contrast and
> other minor elements. Just did not want to pollute the list with an
> email for every change. Go visit the page once in a while to see if
> things are more to your liking and post with comments.

Is http://redshift-software.com/~grafik/boost/index.htm the (a?)
main contender yet?  For the most part, it looks very nice, so
kudos on the work you've put into it.  However, I have a few
comments on it:

-- As viewed with my browsers, which work quite nicely at other
   web sites, there is way too much white, and not enough
   black/blue from the text.  IOW, the contrast is really low
   because the lines of the letters are so thin.  This is more
   pronounced with the blue of the links than with the black, but
   both are a problem.

-- The chevron icons do nothing for me.  They aren't indicative
   of the section they call out and there are only three on the
   page.  If they differed for each section, they might provide
   value, or if they were more visually useful, they might be
   better.  As suggestions for the latter, you could use drop
   caps in the headings instead of icons, per se, or you could
   use a partial box:

   | Welcome to Boost.org!
   +-----------

   The partial box would be sized to be just a portion of the
   width of the headings (and the same width for all of them).

-- The "Participation" section should be a subsection of the
   "Welcome to Boost.org!" section.  It should be a main section,
   despite how much participation is valued.

-- I liked Jeff's suggestion of a "toolbar" of most frequent
   links across the top.  I'm sure there can be some argument as
   to what the most frequently used links are, but if the list is
   kept short, it shouldn't be too hard.

-- The drop down list for searching obscures the other choices.
   I think the right behavior is to search everything, or just
   the site from the home page, with an "Advanced Search" link
   that offers more search options.  This helps to keep the home
   page simpler and is more in keeping with other web sites.

-- The section labeled, "About," has always mislead me.  I guess
   I've been trained by Microsoft to expect application or
   organization information under that heading, so the links that
   appear in that section seem out of place.  In this case,
   changing "About" to, say, "Reviews and Submissions" might be
   just the thing.

-- 
Rob Stewart                           stewart_at_[hidden]
Software Engineer                     http://www.sig.com
Susquehanna International Group, LLP  using std::disclaimer;