[Savannah-hackers-public] GNU Savannah website design

[Assaf Gordon]

Hello Guo Yunhe,

( This emails continues a previous discussion on sv-users: 
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/savannah-users/2014-09/msg00001.html  and a 
submission on Savannah:  http://savannah.gnu.org/task/?13324 )

Thank you for suggesting a new web design.
There are certainly issues with the current design.
I also like how you summarized all the styles in "define.html" - makes it 
easier to get a 'feel' for your design.
It's also good (IMHO) that you've made this design without any Javascript, just 
CSS.

First,
A technical question: I assume you do not intend to turn this into a 
full-fledged stand-alone software project to be hosted on GNU Savannah - can I 
close the project submission and we'll continue the discussion here?


Second,
I agree with your observation: the GNU Savannah website design has an 'older' 
feel to it - reminding websites from the early 2000 and not similar to the 
sleeker and 'modern' websites of today.
Some people might prefer the older look, others might prefer a more modern look 
("flat" or not, bootstrap-like, responsive and other buzzwords).

Personal preferences aside,
I think that changing the GNU Savannah website is a much more complicated tasks 
then just updating few HTML or CSS files. The Front-End code is based on PHP 
(and perhaps some perl), and is tightly integrated with the logic code.

Additionally, GNU Savannah (and other GNU-related website) have a goal of being 
accessible from many web browser, not necessity modern ones (including even 
text-mode browsing) - so using the latest-and-greatest web-design features is 
not always an option.

And more: GNU Savannah is maintained by volunteers, and there are very few of 
them.
A change in the design will require close supervision and support, to ensure 
any glitches on any exotic web-browsers will be fixed and addressed.


If you are interested in long-term help for the Savannah website, help is 
always appreciated.

If this is a one-time attempt, then your design suggestions will certainly help 
if/when the time comes to update the code - but it will not happen immediately.

Regards,
 -Assaf