[Grok-dev] My feedback on the new Grok website

[Sebastian Ware]

I did the original design for the Grok website and personally, I think  
your comments were very valuable!

Reference to the original design:

   http://www.urbantalk.se/DEVELOPER/grok_3

3 jan 2008 kl. 20.45 skrev Peter Bengtsson:

> I haven't participated in building the or designing the new site but  
> perhaps my perspective is thus not tainted by limitations or being  
> "home blind". The site I'm looking at is: http://plone.grok.quintagroup.com/
>
> In no particular order...
>
> - The chosen colours are quite unclear and hard to read. Especially...
>
>   - the yellowish text on yellow background and the grey text in
>     the navigation
>

This has been a problem since day one, and that is mainly my fault. :)

>   - The header "Grok Navigator" in the nav

It was intended that way so as not to be too distracting (since it  
really isn't that important information).

>
>   - The "Log in" and "Register" link in the upper right hand corner

This breaks the original design. I would have prefered to integrate  
them with the navigator.

>
>
> - I click "Evaluate" and the page is called /about and when I arrive
>   it says "Who is Grok?". WTF? Shouldn't the page be called /evaluate
>   and the headline be "Evaluate" after the click

I agree, this was not the intended behaviour... (same on the following  
comments)

>   - "Learn" takes me to a page called "Documentation"
>     (PS. Learning isn't the same as documenation)
>
>   - "Develop" takes me to a page called "Project"
>
>   - "Participate" takes me to a page called "Community"
>
> - Why would I want to send or print a page when the print link just
>   kicks off the javascript this.print()??
>   Who in the developer community ever uses the "Send this page"?
>
> - The "Current release" block in the nav is great!!

I agree. In the original design, the size of the download is indicated  
by the download link.

>
>
> - The navigator disappears when you do a search :(
>
> - (more of a Plone problem) it's confusing with what the difference is
>    between a "tutorial" and a "how-to" since when skimming the content
>    they are to me both tutorials.
>
> - Having the news in the navigator (after "Current release") clutters
>   the design and makes it feel like the navigator is something
>   complicated.
>

I agree, this was not how the navigator was intended. In the original  
design only the next sprint was shown in the navigator.

> - The old summary ("Grok is a web application framework for Python  
> developers....") than the new one ("Grok is a web application  
> framework based on Zope 3") because the old one felt more plain and  
> simple.
>
> - Instead of "Welcome to the Grok framework!" I would suggest "Grok  
> - a powerful web framework for cavemen"
>

I agree, this has been a legacy text from the original designs.

>
>
> Last word... These are just some quick thought and, most  
> importantly, first impressions. My aim with the feedback is making  
> the Grok website more welcoming to people who can be convinced to  
> dig deeper being completely new to it or having already tried Grok.


mvh Sebastian

>
>
> -- 
> Peter Bengtsson,
> work www.fry-it.com
> home www.peterbe.com
> hobby www.issuetrackerproduct.com
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