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| Re: New Homepage Comments [message #5728 is a reply to message #5674] |
Thu, 12 May 2005 17:14   |
Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: jed.anderson.codenovo.com
My overall opinion is that the current design gives nothing visual
precedence. I think there should be a handful of things that are given
more space, color, and identifying icons to separate them from the rest
of the page to make them jump out. If I was to rate items in terms of
importance I would rate news as my 5th most important item. Yet in the
current design it takes 80% of the space. My other four items are (in
order), "Download Latest" button, the Eclipse icon, a quick link to
enter a bug, and the top five newsgroups.
See my comments below for an in depth argument supporting my opinion.
Cheers,
jkca
p.s. BTW, thanks for having the courage to start this process. It's
been a long time coming and no doubt there are thousands of people like
me who are willing to voice their opinions verbosely.
> - The font size must be larger. I have good eyesight and still can't
> read the text.
+2 or +3
It looks like we're trying to pack so much news into the front page. I
think each of the sections need to have one or two entries and larger
content. There is always the "more news" button.
> - I think the main reason people visit the site is to download Eclipse.
> The http://eclipse.org/downloads/index.php page has the right idea by
> detecting your OS and displaying a link for downloading Eclipse. That
> link also needs to appear prominently on the home page. Making the
> download a one click operation will increase the number of people that
> give Eclipse a try.
+1
> - The frames need to go.
+1, Although it looks like the prototype will not have frames and is
just housed in the Eclipse frameset right now. Or is that a bad assumption.
> - Search doesn't need it's own left hand nav. entry if you put the
> search box in the upper right corner of each page. Most people have
> come to expect the search box on each page so they probably don't notice
> it in the navigation links.
+1
* I think visual cues would help dramatically. Right now my eyes are
instantly drawn to the Jolt and JDJ icons. They should be drawn to
Eclipse icons. Icons we create that help users visually categorize the
content. We should also have icons for each of our distributions, SDK,
CDT, WTP, RCP!, etc. Just because they're all Eclipse based doesn't
mean they all have to have the solar eclipse icon. Having different
icons for each of the downloads would help users on the download page as
well.
* Another example, an icon for each news section will distinguish one
from another. Category icons for each news item will allow users to
visually filter things they're not interested in or jump quickly to
things they find important. If we had category icons then the news
could be one section and could include one or two items from each
category only. Clicking on the category icon could take you to a list
of all of the news from that category and clicking on the more would
take you to a master list of the recent news. News is important, but
it's not why people come to the site. Especially with RSS feeds.
People will read a headline from their feed reader and skip our front
page all together.
* A large down arrow tells users, "this is where you click to download
Eclipse."
* Different background colors could help to distinguish navigation from
content and one type of content from another.
* If we had RSS feeds for each news type we could allow users to
download only what they're interested in.
* Is the about text the most important information we have? I don't
think so. I started by distilling the page down to what I think its
absolute minimum would be. I would say the following are my top five
and therefore should be the five things that jump out at me. Any more
than five and I won't see them all (maybe six, maximum).
1. Download Latest button--this should resolve the browser's OS and
start a download of the latest release build for that platform
2. Eclipse icon--for mind share
3. New Bug--need to encourage more bug writers
4. Newsgroups--this is the way most of the community communicates a list
of the top five newsgroups and a link to the master list would encourage
people to jump in
5. News items--we need to be a warehouse for Eclipse related information.
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| Re: New Homepage Comments [message #5853 is a reply to message #5728] |
Mon, 16 May 2005 23:34 |
| Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: kim.pepper.gmail.com
The use of colour and graphics has been done really well on the mozilla site
http://www.mozilla.org/. The layout is presented clearly and simply and it
is light-weight (under 30K) and fast to load. It also uses valid XHTML/CSS.
Kim
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| Re: New Homepage Comments [message #5888 is a reply to message #5674] |
Tue, 17 May 2005 01:28 |
| Eclipse User |
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Originally posted by: adlaiff6.gmail.com
David Graham wrote:
> The proposed homepage design is cleaner than the current one. Here are
> my suggestions:
>
> - The font size must be larger. I have good eyesight and still can't
> read the text.
>
> - The news item titles are not clearly separated from their descriptions
> which makes them difficult to scan quickly. The description should
> start on a new line below the title.
Like it.
> - The news items are too close together. They need more vertical
> whitespace between them.
Sure.
> - Recent articles should get their own section on the homepage. When I
> was first learning Eclipse the articles were the first thing I read.
Maybe a separate page, but I think articles should stay together on the
homepage
> - I think the main reason people visit the site is to download Eclipse.
> The http://eclipse.org/downloads/index.php page has the right idea by
> detecting your OS and displaying a link for downloading Eclipse. That
> link also needs to appear prominently on the home page. Making the
> download a one click operation will increase the number of people that
> give Eclipse a try.
I doubt an extra click defers many users, especially those that are
intending to code (it might defer random internet users, but that's okay
in my book).
> - New to Eclipse? isn't the right heading. I skipped that section
> because I've been using Eclipse for years but there are links there that
> I am interested in.
Dunno.
> - The frames need to go.
Yes. Frames look like they were coded by children looking to show off,
no matter how well done. Tables are the wave of the future.
> - The left hand navigation color scheme makes the links difficult to read.
I think it's alright.
> - Search doesn't need it's own left hand nav. entry if you put the
> search box in the upper right corner of each page. Most people have
> come to expect the search box on each page so they probably don't notice
> it in the navigation links.
Or maybe a search button at the bottom of the navbar.
> - Maybe the left hand nav. can be removed entirely if you build the
> links into the header area. http://www.opera.com/ does this well.
Personally, I like the left hand navigation, but maybe both would be
good (http://www.ddruk.com/)
> - Why doesn't the Project Links section have the same rounded outline as
> every other section?
It should.
> - The Project News header has a dashed line and a solid line separating
> it from the content. The Community New section has just the dashed
> line. The New to Eclipse? section has just the solid line. All
> sections should use a consistent separator line. The New to Eclipse?
> section looks the cleanest.
Same.
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| Re: New Homepage Comments [message #562993 is a reply to message #5674] |
Thu, 12 May 2005 17:14 |
 Jed Anderson
Messages: 5
Registered: July 2009 |
Junior Member |
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My overall opinion is that the current design gives nothing visual
precedence. I think there should be a handful of things that are given
more space, color, and identifying icons to separate them from the rest
of the page to make them jump out. If I was to rate items in terms of
importance I would rate news as my 5th most important item. Yet in the
current design it takes 80% of the space. My other four items are (in
order), "Download Latest" button, the Eclipse icon, a quick link to
enter a bug, and the top five newsgroups.
See my comments below for an in depth argument supporting my opinion.
Cheers,
jkca
p.s. BTW, thanks for having the courage to start this process. It's
been a long time coming and no doubt there are thousands of people like
me who are willing to voice their opinions verbosely.
> - The font size must be larger. I have good eyesight and still can't
> read the text.
+2 or +3
It looks like we're trying to pack so much news into the front page. I
think each of the sections need to have one or two entries and larger
content. There is always the "more news" button.
> - I think the main reason people visit the site is to download Eclipse.
> The http://eclipse.org/downloads/index.php page has the right idea by
> detecting your OS and displaying a link for downloading Eclipse. That
> link also needs to appear prominently on the home page. Making the
> download a one click operation will increase the number of people that
> give Eclipse a try.
+1
> - The frames need to go.
+1, Although it looks like the prototype will not have frames and is
just housed in the Eclipse frameset right now. Or is that a bad assumption.
> - Search doesn't need it's own left hand nav. entry if you put the
> search box in the upper right corner of each page. Most people have
> come to expect the search box on each page so they probably don't notice
> it in the navigation links.
+1
* I think visual cues would help dramatically. Right now my eyes are
instantly drawn to the Jolt and JDJ icons. They should be drawn to
Eclipse icons. Icons we create that help users visually categorize the
content. We should also have icons for each of our distributions, SDK,
CDT, WTP, RCP!, etc. Just because they're all Eclipse based doesn't
mean they all have to have the solar eclipse icon. Having different
icons for each of the downloads would help users on the download page as
well.
* Another example, an icon for each news section will distinguish one
from another. Category icons for each news item will allow users to
visually filter things they're not interested in or jump quickly to
things they find important. If we had category icons then the news
could be one section and could include one or two items from each
category only. Clicking on the category icon could take you to a list
of all of the news from that category and clicking on the more would
take you to a master list of the recent news. News is important, but
it's not why people come to the site. Especially with RSS feeds.
People will read a headline from their feed reader and skip our front
page all together.
* A large down arrow tells users, "this is where you click to download
Eclipse."
* Different background colors could help to distinguish navigation from
content and one type of content from another.
* If we had RSS feeds for each news type we could allow users to
download only what they're interested in.
* Is the about text the most important information we have? I don't
think so. I started by distilling the page down to what I think its
absolute minimum would be. I would say the following are my top five
and therefore should be the five things that jump out at me. Any more
than five and I won't see them all (maybe six, maximum).
1. Download Latest button--this should resolve the browser's OS and
start a download of the latest release build for that platform
2. Eclipse icon--for mind share
3. New Bug--need to encourage more bug writers
4. Newsgroups--this is the way most of the community communicates a list
of the top five newsgroups and a link to the master list would encourage
people to jump in
5. News items--we need to be a warehouse for Eclipse related information.
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| Re: New Homepage Comments [message #563183 is a reply to message #5728] |
Mon, 16 May 2005 23:34 |
| Eclipse User |
|
|
|
Originally posted by: kim.pepper.gmail.com
The use of colour and graphics has been done really well on the mozilla site
http://www.mozilla.org/ The layout is presented clearly and simply and it
is light-weight (under 30K) and fast to load. It also uses valid XHTML/CSS.
Kim
|
|
|
| Re: New Homepage Comments [message #563227 is a reply to message #5674] |
Tue, 17 May 2005 01:28 |
| Eclipse User |
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|
|
Originally posted by: adlaiff6.gmail.com
David Graham wrote:
> The proposed homepage design is cleaner than the current one. Here are
> my suggestions:
>
> - The font size must be larger. I have good eyesight and still can't
> read the text.
>
> - The news item titles are not clearly separated from their descriptions
> which makes them difficult to scan quickly. The description should
> start on a new line below the title.
Like it.
> - The news items are too close together. They need more vertical
> whitespace between them.
Sure.
> - Recent articles should get their own section on the homepage. When I
> was first learning Eclipse the articles were the first thing I read.
Maybe a separate page, but I think articles should stay together on the
homepage
> - I think the main reason people visit the site is to download Eclipse.
> The http://eclipse.org/downloads/index.php page has the right idea by
> detecting your OS and displaying a link for downloading Eclipse. That
> link also needs to appear prominently on the home page. Making the
> download a one click operation will increase the number of people that
> give Eclipse a try.
I doubt an extra click defers many users, especially those that are
intending to code (it might defer random internet users, but that's okay
in my book).
> - New to Eclipse? isn't the right heading. I skipped that section
> because I've been using Eclipse for years but there are links there that
> I am interested in.
Dunno.
> - The frames need to go.
Yes. Frames look like they were coded by children looking to show off,
no matter how well done. Tables are the wave of the future.
> - The left hand navigation color scheme makes the links difficult to read.
I think it's alright.
> - Search doesn't need it's own left hand nav. entry if you put the
> search box in the upper right corner of each page. Most people have
> come to expect the search box on each page so they probably don't notice
> it in the navigation links.
Or maybe a search button at the bottom of the navbar.
> - Maybe the left hand nav. can be removed entirely if you build the
> links into the header area. http://www.opera.com/ does this well.
Personally, I like the left hand navigation, but maybe both would be
good (http://www.ddruk.com/)
> - Why doesn't the Project Links section have the same rounded outline as
> every other section?
It should.
> - The Project News header has a dashed line and a solid line separating
> it from the content. The Community New section has just the dashed
> line. The New to Eclipse? section has just the solid line. All
> sections should use a consistent separator line. The New to Eclipse?
> section looks the cleanest.
Same.
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