Restyle Gentoo site

[lordalbert]

Hi at all,
from a bit i'm thinking that gentoo site needs some "refresh". Yesterday i see the new funtoo site, and i like it very much. Now it's clear, for me, that a new simple and clear theme will improve browsing and reading, espacially the wiki (documentation).

What do you think about?

[jonathan183]

Opinions will vary ... personally I really dislike the screen shot slide show on the Funtoo home page. I see these sort of things on a number of web pages and they can be really irritating, especially when they slow page loading and browser responsiveness. I did not even spot the link to go to the wiki from the home page ...

So for me personally - the Gentoo home page is fine. It also works quite well with links -g using directfb, while other sites typically require scripts to be enabled to see content properly.

[Ant P.]

I'd support a new Gentoo design only as long as it doesn't end up looking like the bland default Bootstrap theme.

[lordalbert]

i'm not referring to homepage (sorry, probably i expressed myself badly), but in particular to the wiki (the documentation part).

For example (i take a random page), http://www.funtoo.org/Xfce look and feel more clear and usable than http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Xfce (also if in funtoo wiki there isn't ToC)
I dont' mean to copy that template! Also i think a cleaner interface will improve readabilty and usability of documentation.

This is only my opinion, and i know that can differ from others. I only ask what do you think about it!

[arnvidr]

Sure, the funtoo wiki looks good, although it really needs a ToC, and the "extra clicks to get to the options" menu at the top is really annoying. I'm sure you could get the gentoo wiki to pretty much the same look with some css, as I think the layout is great as it is.
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[i92guboj]

If it's some styling what you want, you can always use Stylish, Greasemokey or something like that.

There are already some styles for some gentoo sites around:

https://userstyles.org/styles/browse?search_terms=gentoo

[59729]

gentoo.org tells me that it's complicated old and bloated I do like gentoo though. .org feels like my companys internal site "work for a big global company" so it's not praise

I like https://www.archlinux.org/ homepage, simple and inituitive, everything feels connected theres no sence of information overload or wrong information. slackware.com is also ok

Generally it feels like all the big and old distributions have bloated complicated websites

[steveL]

[Fitzcarraldo]

[Chiitoo]

I much, much prefer the current Gentoo style of the wikki.

I even like the current main-site and the forums! I do hope they never change towards the everything-is-huge-and-designed-for-hand-helds, and if that can't be avoided, there better be options for the old 'themes' or I'll start a (peaceful) riot!

That being said, I always like having options and alternatives, so additional styles would always be welcome. I imagine there's only need for someone to do it (although like i92guboj mentioned, there are ways to do it already for oneself), just like there is a need for someone to update the forums from phpBB 2.0.23-gentoo-p11.
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Kindest of regardses.

[Maffblaster]

I believe it's important to to modernize the look of both Gentoo.org and the wiki. Here's my reasoning:

1. It shows the general public there is active development and special care going into the distribution at all levels. This is more important than it might seem to old(er) Gentoo users. Sure, anyone could look at the repositories on GitHub, etc. to see there is work going on, but someone "looking into" Gentoo as a viable OS is not going to be looking at source code repositories.

2. The web changes over time because software changes over time. HTML5 exists now. There is much better media support on the web than there was 7 years ago. Browsers have many more features than they used to. The web has always changed and will continue to do so as software continues to change. Many websites take those changes into consideration and generate small tweaks and changes to the overall looks and feels of the site. Many existing Gentoo users have essentially memorized the layout of Gentoo.org and can find things quickly; however just because they can doesn't mean new users will be able to find things quickly. I, for example, used to have trouble finding various items of interest in the links box on the left hand side. It's a simple list, but I think it could be made more intuitive. Any change will probably come as a shock to long time users, but it might (overall) be a good thing.

3. Hardware changes over time. This is one (among other) of the reasons the web/software changes over time. Many people to a lot of reading on their mobiles devices (phones). I think, in order to maintain relevance with upcoming generations of computer users, Gentoo sites should take this into consideration. For example, a while ago I asked Sven to generate a version of Linux Sea in .epub format (which he was swift to accomplish) so that I could read it on my Kindle. The Kindle is a device that didn't exist 7 years ago.

4. Societies change over time. People want to be able to quickly and effortlessly find what they are looking for. That's why search on the web is such a lucrative business and explains why many sites appear simpler (more block-like) than they did in the earlier web.. People don't want to have to think in order to get the information they are looking for; they just want to get it. Does that say something about the person? Yes, but it also says something about the world we live in. I'm not advocating to change the layout of gentoo.org, but I think it could use a face lift. An example, although not gentoo.org, is the "Gentoo discussion forums" graphic at the head of this page. On my monitor (which is not high resolution, but enough to notice) it looks very grainy, unprofessional, and old. An .svg graphic would be great!

It looks like there is already a(n) (inactive) repository in the works to update the look and feel of gentoo.org: https://github.com/gentoo/tyrian

Also, if you take a look here, you can see a nice look on the infra-status website: http://infra-status.gentoo.org/

Just a few thoughts. My purpose is not to be deconstructive; I'm just making observations. Thanks for reading.
_________________
Lets make Gentoo better together!
wiki: https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Maffblaster
blog: http://dev.gentoo.org/~maffblaster/

[Wallsandfences]

for me, the gentoo pages have an almost unbelievable amount of info and data available. And top quality.
Having said that, visually they are behind that standard. A bare minimum would be a responsive design (renders differently on different devices). Personally, i can surely live with the status quo. But better would be better

But I really like Gnome 3, so I'm probably representing a minority here..

Rüdiger

[yngwin]

[steveL]

[avx]

[Ant P.]

[lordalbert]

What i mean in the first post, is an

Readable, Accessible, Clean, Simple interface.

So i don't understand who critics the new redesign, becouse he doesn't want javascript or so on.

I don't speak about javascript. I don't speak about complex interface. I don't speak about a complex and bad interface.

I speak about a minimal interface (in which the text/content is the core of the page! Nothing else).



Apart of that.... is there nowaday users that use links?!
What are the advanced in comparison with gui web browser? (midori, firefox, rekonq, opera, chrome, whatYouWant)

I found the page displayed by text-browser not readable. Is not clear the distinction between content and menu. (and i use i3 window manager, so i'm using cli-object)[/b]

[Ant P.]

[lordalbert]

[Ant P.]

Not everyone has the luxury of access to a machine strong enough to run those while installing Gentoo, either.

For a source-based distro, it would be nice to maintain the status quo of having system requirements lower than Microsoft windows.

[lordalbert]

[Ant P.]

[avx]

[steveL]

[jonathan183]