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Date:      Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:08:56 -0500
From:      "W. D." <WD@US-Webmasters.com>
To:        freebsd-www@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: FreeBSD design proposal
Message-ID:  <5.1.0.14.2.20050722180855.085fd9f0@209.152.117.178>
In-Reply-To: <20050722173321.GJ594@gothic.blackend.org>
References:  <20050722153420.GI21388@freebsdmall.com> <42E10467.3050109@freebsd.org> <20050722152333.GG594@gothic.blackend.org> <20050722152830.GH594@gothic.blackend.org> <20050722153420.GI21388@freebsdmall.com>

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At 09:36 7/22/2005, Emily Boyd, wrote:
>...I'd like to propose the
>following design as the basis for a redesigned website:
>
>http://www.emilyboyd.com/design/freebsd/homepage_proposal.png
>http://www.emilyboyd.com/design/freebsd/secondpage_proposal.png
>
...
>If my design proposal is accepted, I would be able to code up the design
>as SGML/XSLT templates so that the existing website can be rapidly
>converted to the new style and launched in time for 6.0-RELEASE.

Are these templates going to be user friendly?  That is, since
different individuals are responsible for updating different
sections, can they do so easily, unencumbered by the formatting
method?


>Various members of core@ and marketing@ have reviewed my design, and
>have offered a lot of encouragement. I would love to hear additional
>feedback from those on this list.


At 12:33 7/22/2005, Marc Fonvieille wrote:
>On Fri, Jul 22, 2005 at 08:34:20AM -0700, Murray Stokely wrote:
>> On Fri, Jul 22, 2005 at 05:28:30PM +0200, Marc Fonvieille wrote:
>> > Oops I forgot an important question:
>> > All titles are text or gfx?  This is an important point for the
>> > translated versions of the site; we need to be able to get (quite) the
>> > same rendering in any language.
>>=20
>> Right now her design is in a graphics application.  She will start
>> coding it in HTML once there is agreement on the design.  You could
>> take a look at the postgresql.org site and see if you are happy with
>> her coding for multiple resolutions and text mode, as she designed
>> that site as well.
>>
>
>Current www.FreeBSD.org gives great results under w3m or links, it would
>be great to keep a such "compatibility."  That's not the case of
>postgresql.org, but maybe postgresql people do not care about that.
>
>> It's a good point though that all of these sorts of things will need
>> to be extensible to new translations and new sections added to the
>> site.  We listed this as a requirement on the wiki, and we'll make
>> sure to hold Emily to it when she starts the HTML coding stage.


Some other comments and considerations:

I did a quick scan of the HTML on PostgreSQL.org.  There were a=20
number of errors that hopefully would not be duplicated on
FreeBSD.org:

http://tinyurl.com/bmgrg or:

<http://www.US-Webmasters.com/FreeBSD/Temp/PostgreSQL.org-HTML-Validation-Re=
sults.htm>


During a link check of PostgreSQL.org I found a number of=20
improperly terminated URLs.  The web server software is=20
smart enough to redirect, but this does take a little
extra time and CPU cycles:

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D
http://www.postgresql.org/about
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/about/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/download
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/download/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/docs
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/docs/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/community
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/community/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/developer
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/developer/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/support
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/support/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/about/casestudies
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/about/casestudies/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/v8.0.3
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/v8.0.3/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/v7.4.8
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/v7.4.8/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/v7.3.10
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/ftp/source/v7.3.10/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

http://www.postgresql.org/community/lists
redirected to: http://www.postgresql.org/community/lists/
linked from page(s):
        http://www.postgresql.org/

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D

The mockups have a good overall color scheme--good work!  As=20
mentioned previously, if FreeBSD decides to implement a logo
in addition to the mascot, will there need to be a drastic
change in the format?

If FreeBSD.org will be essentialy the same as PostgreSQL.org,
then I have a number of concerns:

PostgreSQL.org is 'graphics heavy'.  By this I mean that there
are a number of places where HTML text could be used in place
of graphics.  There are a number of reasons for this, such as:
automatic sizing in various sized browser windows, and better
search engine placement.  More discussion here:
<http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-advocacy/2005-March/thread.html#=
2079>

Also, by reducing the graphics content pages will load quicker. =20
Many potential users of FreeBSD live in countries where
access is metered and relatively costly.

It would be nice to have a link to a 'site map' on each page.
That way, one doesn't have shuffle through page after page
looking for something.

The CSS appears to be valid.  However, I question why it is
split between so many files.  It might be easier to maintain
in a single file.

There are a number of infractions of good Web design at the
PostgreSQL.org site.  Here are some principles that I have
collected over the years:

http://www.US-Webmasters.com/web-design-principles/












Start Here to Find It Fast!=99 ->=
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$8.77 Domain Names -> http://domains.us-webmasters.com/




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