Re: What now?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: pgsql-www-owner(at)postgresql(dot)org
> [mailto:pgsql-www-owner(at)postgresql(dot)org] On Behalf Of Alexey Borzov
> Sent: 18 June 2004 10:05
> To: pgsql-www(at)postgresql(dot)org
> Subject: [pgsql-www] What now?
>
> Greetings.
>
> Well, I've done the part of the work I've volunteered for.
> The "next-generation" postgresql.org mostly works. It does
> have its rough edges, of course, but this means that bugfixes
> are needed, not major new features.

That's great - thanks Alexey :-)

> What's needed now is
> 1) Redesign

OK, I believe Gavin was working on that - it that still the case?

> 2) Content changes

Very little static content has probably changed (though it should still
be reviewed) - did you copy all the original content? Also, do you have
a script to migrate the latest versions of the db backed stuff.

> 3) Plan for website migration

Yes. Perhaps the biggest problem here will be the search engine which
will need to completely reindex the new site. Any gotchas there John, or
is that just a case of zapping the old URLs and re-crawling?

We will also need to update the search template.

Regards, Dave.

On Fri, 2004-06-18 at 19:38, Dave Page wrote:
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: pgsql-www-owner(at)postgresql(dot)org
> > [mailto:pgsql-www-owner(at)postgresql(dot)org] On Behalf Of Alexey Borzov
> > Sent: 18 June 2004 10:05
> > To: pgsql-www(at)postgresql(dot)org
> > Subject: [pgsql-www] What now?
> >
> > Greetings.
> >
> > Well, I've done the part of the work I've volunteered for.
> > The "next-generation" postgresql.org mostly works. It does
> > have its rough edges, of course, but this means that bugfixes
> > are needed, not major new features.
>
> That's great - thanks Alexey :-)
>
> > What's needed now is
> > 1) Redesign
>
> OK, I believe Gavin was working on that - it that still the case?
>
> > 2) Content changes
>
> Very little static content has probably changed (though it should still
> be reviewed) - did you copy all the original content? Also, do you have
> a script to migrate the latest versions of the db backed stuff.
>
> > 3) Plan for website migration
>
> Yes. Perhaps the biggest problem here will be the search engine which
> will need to completely reindex the new site. Any gotchas there John, or
> is that just a case of zapping the old URLs and re-crawling?
>

For static content, I suggest bzip2 all of it and I set up a local
mirror which I can crawl (configured as www.postgresql.org) so the
search engine thinks it's crawling the real thing.

I'll crawl to a new database not to upset the old and we can then switch
over at the same time. (I assume you get all of it ready at a new
location, and then kindof like flick a switch?)

> We will also need to update the search template.
>

Any thoughts on using XSL/XML for the search engine templates?
Seperating content from layout is a good thing me thinks.

btw, http://search.oztralis.com.au/test.php?q=weekly&cs=utf-8 is made
with xml/xsl, you can see the

xsl here: http://search.oztralis.com.au/xsl/en.xsl
xml here: http://search.oztralis.com.au/cgi-bin/pg.cgi?q=weekly&cs=utf-8

It uses php for some pre/post processing of the XML required to make it
valid XML, (until I figure out how to use libxml2 to WRITE xml
documents).

> Regards, Dave.

... John

Hi,

Dave Page wrote:
>>What's needed now is
>>1) Redesign
>
> OK, I believe Gavin was working on that - it that still the case?

BTW, I think we should do some kind of design specification. The current
mode, where Gavin does a mockup and *then* everyone criticizes it /
suggests ideas does not seem too good to me.

>>2) Content changes
>
> Very little static content has probably changed (though it should still
> be reviewed) - did you copy all the original content? Also, do you have
> a script to migrate the latest versions of the db backed stuff.

I copied all the content that was in portal's database. I also moved the
files that weren't there. I think one should merge all the changes that
were done between Anreas starting work on portal and present day... I
didn't check the whole stuff, but there *are* differences.

That means, of course, that no big content changes are planned.

The script to migrate news / events / polls is in CVS
(portal/tools/update.sql)

Alexey Borzov wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Dave Page wrote:
>
>>> What's needed now is
>>> 1) Redesign
>>
>>
>> OK, I believe Gavin was working on that - it that still the case?
>
>
> BTW, I think we should do some kind of design specification. The
> current mode, where Gavin does a mockup and *then* everyone criticizes
> it / suggests ideas does not seem too good to me.

I agree ;-)

The current design suggestion is at
http://ehpg.net/~gavinr/pgsql/template2.html ... has it grown on anyone
or should I ditch it and start thinking of new directions?

Gavin

On Fri, 2004-06-18 at 12:18, Gavin M. Roy wrote:
> Alexey Borzov wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Dave Page wrote:
> >
> >>> What's needed now is
> >>> 1) Redesign
> >>
> >>
> >> OK, I believe Gavin was working on that - it that still the case?
> >
> >
> > BTW, I think we should do some kind of design specification. The
> > current mode, where Gavin does a mockup and *then* everyone criticizes
> > it / suggests ideas does not seem too good to me.
>
> I agree ;-)
>
> The current design suggestion is at
> http://ehpg.net/~gavinr/pgsql/template2.html ... has it grown on anyone
> or should I ditch it and start thinking of new directions?
>

Personally I've never cared for it as it seems to violate a number of
usability guidelines... the watermarked logo hurts readability, the
links use the same color for visited and non-visted links, the heading
that labels the search area is redundant, no description in the title
bar, no summary of what the organization is about.... can you tell I
used to do website usability for a living?

I also think the color scheme is a bit drab, but given the slonik logo
you don't have much to work with... did you see those shirts the
brazillian guys made up? those were nice.

Robert Treat
--
Build A Brighter Lamp :: Linux Apache {middleware} PostgreSQL

Respectfully, its a design direction, not a completed, ready to go
design. The only comment that I see that has any direct indication of
what you thought about the direction and concept is you don't like the
watermark. Anchor colors, etc are very adjustable, and design wise I
feel this site makes much more of a profession impact than the current
site, apologies to the designer of said site.

The great thing about this part of the process is if there is a common
consensus that the direction is sound, the html template can be tweaked
to a great degree while keeping some sort of comonality with the design
concept. If the design concept is off, then lets focus on something new.

My question is how do we come up with a design concept that everyone can
agree to move forward with, with so many experts and opinions, which all
frankly differ from each other. Let's establish a way to vote on
designs as initial directions, so that we don't waste everyones time
with designing, reviewing, and changing things that will never see the
light of day.

Gavin

Robert Treat wrote:

>On Fri, 2004-06-18 at 12:18, Gavin M. Roy wrote:
>
>
>>Alexey Borzov wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>Dave Page wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>What's needed now is
>>>>>1) Redesign
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>OK, I believe Gavin was working on that - it that still the case?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>BTW, I think we should do some kind of design specification. The
>>>current mode, where Gavin does a mockup and *then* everyone criticizes
>>>it / suggests ideas does not seem too good to me.
>>>
>>>
>>I agree ;-)
>>
>>The current design suggestion is at
>>http://ehpg.net/~gavinr/pgsql/template2.html ... has it grown on anyone
>>or should I ditch it and start thinking of new directions?
>>
>>
>>
>
>Personally I've never cared for it as it seems to violate a number of
>usability guidelines... the watermarked logo hurts readability, the
>links use the same color for visited and non-visted links, the heading
>that labels the search area is redundant, no description in the title
>bar, no summary of what the organization is about.... can you tell I
>used to do website usability for a living?
>
>I also think the color scheme is a bit drab, but given the slonik logo
>you don't have much to work with... did you see those shirts the
>brazillian guys made up? those were nice.
>
>
>Robert Treat
>
>