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

From: Rob Stewart (stewart_at_[hidden])
Date: 2004-11-30 12:14:21

From: "David B. Held" <dheld_at_[hidden]>
> Rob Stewart wrote:
> > From: Rene Rivera <grafik.list_at_[hidden]>
> > [...]
> > -- 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.
> 
> I think dense text is much harder to read.  When space is at a
> premium, then I think dense text is acceptable.  But given the choice
> between a crowded page and a more open one, I prefer the latter.
> Dense text tends to make it more difficult to find things, I think.

At present, there's no danger of that problem.  Note, I'm not
talking about the whitespace between paragraphs or sections of
the page, but about how little black or blue there is where there
is text.  It is difficult for me to read the text because the
letters are washed out by the white background.

> > [...]
> > -- 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.
> 
> Did you mean to say "It should [not] be a main section..."?  If so,

Yes, I did mean to write that.

> I think I agree.  It's such a small paragraph that it seems a little
> odd by itself.

Right.

> > [...]
> > -- 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.
> 
> I guess that would be appropriate if the site were very large and
> had many possible places to search.  But on a site as small as Boost,
> with fairly disjoint sets of data that people generally want to look
> at, I think having partitioned searches is just fine.

Radio buttons with the three choices would be better, then.

> > -- 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.
> 
> I agree that "About" is used a little unconventionally.  I think
> other possibilities for the section title would be "Policies",
> "Protocol", "Details", "Contributing" or something along those lines.

Reasonable ideas.

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