Puppy Website: Looks, Bugs, Wishlists

Message

tombh · #1 Post by **tombh** » Sat 08 Mar 2008, 19:03

Please use this thread for suggestions about design, any wishlists, bugs, links, spelling mistakes, practical things, etc.

The proto-site can currently be found for your perusal at Hostgator's temporary URL

Don't worry too much about choosing the right thread as I appreciate the two "Puppy Website" threads overlap

Here are the items from the previous thread that fit in here;

*Link to forum member Dingo's site
*Perhaps "Linux Puppy" should read "Puppy Linux"
*Site breaks in IE6
*"New Users Start Here" button is needed
*Photo uploading
*A shop (what would we sell?)

tombh · #2 Post by **tombh** » Sat 08 Mar 2008, 19:07

To answer a few points;

Fixing IE6 bugs is often a task in itself and so I usually leave it until I am certain the design is finalised to avoid too much work.

Links to the old site and WIKI will *not* need to be updated as the 404 document can contain PHP to correctly identify and redirect referrals.

WhoDo · #3 Post by **WhoDo** » Sat 08 Mar 2008, 23:22

tombh wrote:*A shop (what would we sell?)

BarryK "sells" Puppy CD's, including those with Puppy Unleashed and Source to save downloads. The cost is minimal and helps to support his development efforts.

We may eventually consider the same option. Maybe we could offer CD's of software packages; sort of a "Best of Breed" CD for each series of Puppy - 1.xx, 2.xx, 3.xx and eventually 4.xx (Dingo). Sales would support, in some small way, the cost of maintaining the community web site and associated services.

It could also offer Puppy merchandise, eventually. It wouldn't be too hard to get a marketing outfit to make mugs, shirts, hats, CD cases, pens, etc with the wonderful Rasterpax logo, which is now community property under the terms of the logo design contest.

Just a few random thoughts. A shop certainly isn't our highest priority, but you did ask the question.

Aitch · #4 Post by **Aitch** » Sun 09 Mar 2008, 01:08

Hi tombh
Firstly my thanks to you for taking on this task
Congrats on the work you've done on the wobbly
* Re this site, I agree that it should be Puppy Linux rather than Linux Puppy
Just rolls off the tongue better, & sticks in your mind the other way round
as wrong somehow
* I suggested on another page, a Puppy Linux timeline
as a way of showing development & progress with different colours for derivatives, perhaps with contributions by derivative authors
[why I did it/extras included/what had to be changed etc]
* firstly I'd like to see a minimum to maximum chart
minimum hardware/minimum puppy to maximum hardware/full blown all singing & dancing - where the limits are either way
with a rock solid fall back, that we all fall back to as with 2.14/3.01
Many people on the forum still refer to very early versions they are still using - surely they've updated bits? - what/when/why?
* Could there be an association list/chart to show which versions of software are known to work with which versions of Puppy
* Similarly, could there be a version list/chart that shows which updates people have done to add value to each version, e.g browser/flash/plugins
* could there be a known working hardware list/chart, with fixes that have been arrived at by forum members being indexed
typically e.g. modem/video/network/wifi/usb/printer/externals w.h.y
* upfront direct link to 'how to' would be good
* with a view to the future, could you build in video/interactive capability
talking head kinda thingy [remember max headroom?]
>>>>ooh yeh, we do that - go here - flash flash flash
>>>>ooh and over here you'll luv these desktops sent in by forum members,
>>>>and over here flash flash is the famous wobbly puppy etc
>>>>latest development thinking by project leader....flash etc

what do other people think?
just a few of my thoughts
aitch

anyone fancy a gallery of mugshots? put faces to names?
tombh seems one of the few who dared
and he's smiling - yeh

happypup

Lobster · #5 Post by **Lobster** » Sun 09 Mar 2008, 06:48

Perhaps "Linux Puppy" should read "Puppy Linux"

Perhaps.

I favour the name PuppyOS

It is a kind of pictogram (looks like a Puppy)
Though we are a penguin
that is our kernel not our identity

On the whole people say Red Hat (good brand awareness)
I believe we have sufficient to say
PuppyOS (to differentiate from the juvenile canine of the same name)

OS sounds a bit like OZ which brings us to Puppy roots . . .
I also believe the rastapix image is strong enough as a logo to stand on its own (no words) that would be a brave and clean statement
Puppy and Linux is mentioned enough on the rest of the page . . .

disciple · #6 Post by **disciple** » Sun 09 Mar 2008, 07:13

Looks nice.

What is this website for? Is it intended to supersede Barry's site? Is it to replace the "community" site puppylinux.org that never took off because the community is really here?..

For that logo to work with the words swapped around you could just move the picture to the bottom left - so sort of diagonally swap the three elements.

I think we should try to be quite clear/precise about what things are or what certain information applies to. e.g. at one stage there were wiki pages that were confusing because they assumed that people were using icewm.

Those screenshots on the right hand side - what are they exactly? I think if you have screenshots that aren't essentially of an "out-of-the-box" Puppy, then it is helpful to have a caption to identify what they are - e.g. screenshots of xxx's customized desktop, or "out-of-the-box" with a specific puplet or easypup or something.

Don't forget to think twice and be careful to ensure that things are organised logically, so that the information people need is easy to find. It doesn't matter how pretty a site is if visitors can't find the right information. At the moment that site looks quite good, but it has the potential to become overcomplicated.

alienjeff · #7 Post by **alienjeff** » Sun 09 Mar 2008, 14:44

What is the logic behind having the "Home-Downloads-Manual-Wiki-Community" menu bar both at the top and bottom of the page?

Caneri · #8 Post by **Caneri** » Sun 09 Mar 2008, 14:52

Hi aj,

The purpose for navigation at the top and the bottom is to give users a common navigation setup so when they get to the bottom of a page (sometimes web pages get very long) they can navigate without scrolling to the top to move around the site.

Eric

alienjeff · #9 Post by **alienjeff** » Sun 09 Mar 2008, 15:07

I realize that, Eric, though thanks for the reply. It just seems to run contrary to keeping the page simple. Though with the expected proliferation of quasi-computers (eeepc, etc) and their limited physical screen sizes, perhaps the "top and bottom" design makes perfect sense.

canerigal · #10 Post by **canerigal** » Sun 09 Mar 2008, 15:59

IMHO from a mainly puppy reader and watcher and the occasional user.

My view is the web site is great and tombh has got an excellent grasp on what is important for a web presence.

re - Linux first then Puppy - Excellent Idea!!
a new user is firstly just looking around - they want to try linux so the most important thing they look for is the Linux name and then, incidentally, this version of linux is called Puppy.

the Logo - agreed by the majority to be the identifier for Puppy - upfront and prominent - easy to always see you are at the Puppy site.

Screen shots - I love them - looks count so that is one of the first things I look for re any software. Gives me an idea of how professional it is (maybe wrong - but that's how I see it)

As for a great puppy presence, I think

tombh has really hit the mark.

canerigal

oblivious · #11 Post by **oblivious** » Tue 11 Mar 2008, 03:45

Some more thoughts....

I agree with what disciple says. In keeping information uncomplicated, less is more - dotpointed or numbered specific instructions are easier to follow than 2 pages of free text.

NathanO's suggested a "new users start here" section and I agree that that would be useful. Apart from just getting started, newbies (and others?) might want basic instructions/information rather than all the alternatives/detail. To deal with this, either an introductory summary, or only a summary with links to additional information would be useful - maybe a structure like "the short version" (I just want to know the easiest/quickest way to do it, don't confuse me) and "the long version" (talk linux to me, I want to talk code, tell me all about it) could be useful.

Organising the information could be done by making a pro forma and always including (or addressing) that information for each entry. eg for all pet packages/dotpups/new versions you could have something like - date created/added, name of creator, contact info for creator, link(s) to download it, puppy version based on (kernel version), features included, features removed from source version, known to work with, problems reported, date last revised (if this gets too old, the info can be identified as "not current" or moved to an "archived" section so that everything upfront is something that can be found, and works), revisions/bugs sorted/features added (dated), links to forum discussions.... If there's a pro forma, the creator should be able to record the salient information without too much effort. IMO dates are essential - after reading the forum for ages I finally decided I'd have a look at a dotpup, but the link wasn't current

Another thing that I think could be useful (particularly for newbies) is a glossary with basic information about common terms.

jonyo · #12 Post by **jonyo** » Tue 11 Mar 2008, 09:28

ooops

tombh · #13 Post by **tombh** » Mon 24 Mar 2008, 17:28

The proto-site has now been moved to a temporary URL at its new home with hosts Hostgator.

It is still the same proto-site, so there is still a lot of padding out and groundwork to do.

The WiKi menu item has been disabled as plans are currently to release the site side by side with the current WikkaWikki and integrate the WiKi after the main site has been done. Therefore when we discuss how the site should look we need to remember that the WiKi AND the website will eventually be the same thing. For example the "Screenshots" and "Latest News" pages do not need to come under the main heading of WiKi -- as you can see they are currently under "Home". In effect the whole site will become the WiKi, with every page being user editable -- albeit if you have the appropriate privileges. On that note, it is possible to register a username with the new site, but I wouldn't recommend yet (partly because I haven't tested that bit yet) because all the existing usernames from the WiKi will eventually became valid in the new site.

So really the questions now are;
How should the new site look?
What should the structure be?

This thread has already started to answer a lot of these questions but I just want to fire things up a little again.

One of the most important aspects (and perhaps the question that will generate the most discussion) is the Home Page. Here are the questions that my guru Steve Krug expects a Home Page to be able to answer;
What is this?
What can I do here?
What do they have here?
Why should I be here--and not somewhere else?

An article by A List Apart on the Goals of a Home Page.

Steve Krug is a usability expert, if you have not come across the importance of usability before here are some great quotes that should help explain.

Aitch · #14 Post by **Aitch** » Mon 24 Mar 2008, 22:09

@Tombh

Good luck and may the force be with you!

My opener for the home page, is that it should be as simple as possible, whilst being reasonably attractive
How many times do we see in the posts calls for 'bigger/better browsers?
Why? Because someone's great idea for a website WON'T LOAD
Too many graphics etc
I heard ideally there is a code size limit for home pages to load with any browser in a maximum 5 seconds
Is that a realistic Goal, or are there other priorities?
After all, this is as much about enhancement as anything
As to functionality, I have only 1 suggestion/question

If I open the home page are all the main things I need as a noob or an expert, here, visible, or in the site map & how many layers to the tree structure are there?

Perhaps people could suggest sites they find easy to use/or like for whatever reason

aitch

Lobster · #15 Post by **Lobster** » Tue 25 Mar 2008, 01:48

old front page

* DOWNLOADDownload Puppy Linux 3.01 and other versions.
* MANUALManual for Puppy Linux 3.01.
* PUPPY-CEPuppy Linux 3.3 Community Edition Talking Stick.
* SCREENSHOTSScreenshots of Puppy Linux.
* WIKIWhat is the Puppy Linux Wiki? How to use it.
* SEARCHSearch forum, Wiki and web for Puppy Linux info.
* LATEST NEWSCommunity News.
* PUPLETSPuppy remastered.

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Puppy Website: Looks, Bugs, Wishlists

Puppy Website: Looks, Bugs, Wishlists

Re: Puppy Website: Looks, Bugs, Wishlists

puppy website

winner

keep it friendly for the blind user