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| From: | Tim McNamara |
| Subject: | Re: new website: draft 3 |
| Date: | Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:36:51 -0500 |
On Jun 29, 2009, at 12:48 AM, chip wrote:
Tim McNamara wrote:I agree with you, but, there is a happy medium. I think the Manuals page is it.On Jun 28, 2009, at 2:55 AM, chip wrote:I think there is obviously far too much white space, also the same on the Downloads page.I disagree and find that most web pages have too much stuff crammed into them, usually so much that it's hard to find the information one is looking for. I like the simplicity of the page and I don't even think the separator lines are necessary. If you want to see the mother of layout nightmares, look at the GoDaddy.com pages. Jeebus, those suck.
Well, there's naturally going to be more information on the documentation pages than on the home page, the downloads pages, etc. The home page and the download page are going to have more white space as a result. How is this a problem?
I thing it's also important to minimize the use of Javascript (unless you're doing Ajax), drop-down menus, etc. Most of that stuff can be done with HTML which loads faster and works with more browsers more predictably. Avoid cute for the sake of cute. Usability is the thing of key importance and not how nifty people will think the code is.Again, I agree. There are ways to get drop-down menus without javascript, which I think should be, and can be, avoided for the entire site. Usability is the number 1 priority indeed, but appearance has to be up there as well. A simple site that looks attractive and contains a well balanced design can still be a very usable site. Lilypond is a very impressive program, and an overly simplistic web site would do it no justice whatsoever. IMHO.
I prefer "elegant" to "overly simplistic." ;-)And personally I think that dropdown (and whatever one calls the same thing popping out horizontally) menus on web pages should be avoided, period. I hate the damn things. YMMV, etc.
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