Posts filed under "internet"
Coda Notes for Safari - Gotta love those Panic boys just for their sheer innovation in creation. This little add on is nothing but a great little addition to the web professional, no need for Adobe’s acrobat for this sort of thing.
Search Google - Truly amazing work from Philipp Antoni. I’ll definitely be using this in the future. It’s basically what google would have wanted to do, but didn’t know how.
You probably haven’t noticed but now the ‘Kode comes with a completely responsive shiney design, and by responsive design I mean it responds to the size of your screen, well by responds to the size of your screen, I mean if it’s less than 480px (size of your iphone/ipod/blackberry?) then you’ll still be able to read very clearly (without scrolling horizontally) my AMAZING writing, and the brilliant commentary that I provide to you on an extremely sporadic nature - what can I say I’m feeling in a sarcastic mood today.
So if you’re reading it on your feed reader, I guess you could visit the site properly to have a look. The main area i’m pretty happy with is the fact that even the images resize to accommodate (like in the illustration section).
The truth of the matter is, the current version of the ‘Kode is soo simple that doing this was pretty painless, and took an a few hours to read up on how to actually do it. The best resource as you would expect is found at these two A List Apart articles:
Then of course there are the prime examples to look at how this is achieved. Jonathan Hick’s for example has gone ALL out, with stylesheets for the iphone, ipad, 600px resolution, smaller, bigger whatever, it’s crazy - who the hell’s got the time? The general plan for the site is to keep doing general maintenance on the site and adding little things like this and generally bringing the design tighter together, trying to stay abreast with what’s going on the web (rather than being ahead of the curve).
Obviously, I could give a shit if it works in Internet Explorer.
So I’m there minding my own business, just checking my feeds and I see a familiar sight. Manji was mentioned on Devlounge as one of the single column themes of choice.
That’s pretty cool actually, seeing as it was designed over 4 years ago and hasn’t really been modified since. What’s interesting to me really is that there does seem a severe lack of super simple themes out there. Super simple is fucking hard to do and make stick - but that’s a topic for another time, which I fully intend on exploring.
Oh and btw, this is officially Broken Kode’s 1500th post.
Less Framework - Interesting experiment to quickly sort out your site to ‘fit’ into smaller screens.
Redesigned Wikipedia - Honestly I hadn’t noticed until today. I instantly look at the content, as for years I’ve ignored everything around it. This, the latest ‘Vector’ theme is actually extremely elegant and a great transition for the site.
Google TV - I guess it was only a matter of time really. Now that I’ve moved to Lebanon, i’ll probably not be able to use something like this for many many years (proper internet connection was one of the things I gave up here).
Appear - Graphic Design Bureau. Seriously sweet website, because it’s all done in javascript, no flash required.
Facebook Facelift - Have you noticed how Facebook always seems to be changing it’s look every 6 months? This would have been one of those welcome changes. Having said that, being away from my friends during this sabbatical, I’m actually very thankful for Facebook.
Movie Mr Men - This made me smile a lot. Love how he’s just constantly building this flickr set. Here are some of my favourites:
Chrome Pointer Ad - One of the cutest adverts to hit the web in a while. I think it’s down to the music and the sound effects which really bring it to life.
Overcoming Creative Block - Some excellent ideas in there. One of my favourites (which I’ve not tried yet, but was actually thinking about that today) was the idea of going to a local university art library and just snapping or photocopying things from old journals to get inspiration and creating a physical drawer or scrapbook with ideas in there. I know I’ll be requiring a lot of inspiration in the coming months.
Google Buzz in Gmail - Nice little addition to Gmail.
Panic Blog - Just wanted to say that the Panic Blog (like most things related to Panic) is pure genius. Simple, but extremely clever with loads of thought put into it. I’m surprised this hasn’t been featured on design websites…probably because most of them are attracted to shiney things rather than subtle.
The Gates Notes - Excellent looking site from Bill. Is it me, or does it feel as though he’s generally distancing himself from both MS and Fester (Steve Balmer).
N.Design Studio - Nick La’s new website. Seriously I don’t even know where to start. The attention to detail is mind boggling. It’s the sort of shit I wish I could have pulled off like 4 years ago. The write up is also just as impressive.
So Owen’s responded to a few things that I’d written. I knew it was coming, and I knew it would be a big one, so true to form the man’s gotten back to me.
To be clear, although I didn’t voice it at the time, one of the reasons why I actually decided to move over to WordPress a while back was in fact when it transpired that Owen might leave the project (I don’t know the exact details, but it seems a community member was maybe hurting more than helping). In any case, Habari without Owen is a much poorer place. Not to take anything away from others who tirelessly contributed to the code, but he’s amassed probably three times as much commits as the next guy (roughly speaking) and generally leads the way - so I listen when he’s got something to say because I respect him enough because he spends the time to explain himself properly. Forget the fact that we don’t agree on everything, I think it’s clear we both want the software to move in the right direction.
The Problem
He raises some decent points which i’d like to consider a bit in analysing how to move forward.
I would love to replace the logo with something better. But something decidedly, unarguably better.
That’s the biggest problem. Who’s deciding which is unarguably better. I can argue that the question mark is brilliant and the non-descript H is rubbish till the cows come in, as I’m sure others can argue the direct opposite. The point is, it’s your opinion against someone elses. The frame work is not there for moving it forward either. We’re not going to strike lightning in a bottle, nor do I think that I can make something that is universally liked by everyone. Fuck me, that’s pretty much impossible to do. For everyone that thinks the Nike swoosh is an icon, you’ve got others proclaiming that it’s completely pointless.
The point is taking where we currently are and moving forward. Otherwise we end up hurting things more and ultimately not achieving anything.
The way forward
My suggestion? Elect a sub-group of people to huddle somewhere, create a plan, build something usable in a staging place, and then report back to the community for review. They take comments, re-huddle, and iterate until either everyone loves it, or there’s no budging by one side or another. And at that point, the community defaults and uses what they’ve built.
I’ve created my logo. So if anything, I’m happy if I was the one making the decisions. My thought process is clear to me. The logo is out there for anyone to pick at as they please. I had an idea, I put it forward. It didn’t take me too long, hell writing up the previous 5 Habari posts probably took me longer to be honest. Like I said, if anything, I’ve got a nice t-shirt design.
I’m not adverse to exploring the issue further with a task force, hell I think it’s a great idea but ultimately I want to know that our work will be accepted, or voted upon. I want to know the structure, because the exercise will take more time out of me and honestly I don’t want to waste my time - which I’m sure you can appreciate.
The taskforce
Obviously everyone is welcome to contribute to the taskforce. If you have a thought or an idea, draw it and throw into the pot. We’ll discuss it find reasons for and against. Some might come up with one idea, that another person will run with which will be then built upon by another. Another might be inspired to go in a different direction. The ultimate idea is that at the end, hopefully there will be something tangible that this taskforce has produced.
The next question that should be raised is, does that then get used instantly? According to Owen, that shouldn’t be the case. It should be reviewed by the rest of the community, lather rinse repeat. This can work, after a fashion. I propose that this is done in a finite number of stages. When we design a building (I’m a building services engineer), the design process is broken down into 4 distinct stages (at least from an engineering POV). Concept, Scheme, Tender, Construction. In a similar fashion, we can also break it down into a few stages.
Concept - Ideas about what it could be are thrown on the table. The question mark, the capital H, the doorbell etc. At this stage it is important NOT to rubbish any ideas. This is to create as many ideas as is possible. No idea is off limits.
Scheme - The ideas with more legs are weeded out. This is going to be time consuming, because ultimately it is important to come up with one or two ideas options which can be further pursued. The point here is reduce the number of options to a manageable few that can be detailed further.
Tender - The few options that are thought to be in contention are whittled down to one. Maybe the execution isn’t perfect but ultimately it’s an idea that everyone is behind. The general thought process is there.
Construction - We build the logo based on the finally selected option. The detail is put in here, and the various elements are presented to be used. In the software, on the website, as badges etc. Used in ‘press’ releases. Whatever.
We report back at every stage. Any thoughts are processed then and then we move on. The other thing that is important is to have a proper timeline for all of this. Otherwise it’ll meander endlessly. Therefore I propose 1 month for each stage. Gives people enough time to consider, think about things, review, reflect, write emails/responses/posts if they have an issues concerns ideas.
We don’t jump back several stages. The rest of the community had the opportunity to review and present their ideas in the given timeframe. Inaction is not allowing progress which as I’ve explained has a negative affect on the software base itself.
If anything it’ll be an interesting exercise to see if design by commitee works on the internet and in an open source project. Afterall, how do you think all those buildings that you live and work in were designed? By the choices of one person? Don’t be silly.
I get the feeling that when you’re done tearing the thing down, assuming you have any energy left afterwards, you might actually do something. Am I right?
I hope so. Like I said, it’s not because I think this will raise my profile, or because I want to have the Habari logo as a notch in my design portfolio (I don’t even have one, although I keep meaning to create one). This is all being done to ensure the progression and future of the software (selfishly because I enjoy using it). I’m not going to let a few with myopic vision hinder PROGRESS dammit :).
Times Skimmer - Great idea and implementation of digesting the top news stories according to categories etc. This is what Google News should be like.
So it seems I might have come across as being negative and I guess some have seen my last few posts as diatribes.
Just to be clear on something I’m genuinely not trying to be rude, I’m trying to build awareness because I can see a problem that I think will ultimately have an effect on the software and the developers themselves; which obviously I don’t want, because I enjoying using this software immensely and I want it to succeed. I don’t gain anything personally from doing this, except the satisfaction of giving something back.
I think the general consensus in Habariland is split with regards to my logo proposal:
Those who think the current logo is good and we don’t need something new.
and those who like the ‘idea’ of the question mark, just not the current execution of the one I’ve presented.
Honestly, I can live with that; actually this can be considered as progress. Would it be useful to have a look at drawing a couple of other question marks? Would that be a rewarding or ultimately futile effort/exercise? Should i just carry on with the next task I’ve been working on (namely the website)? Would it actually be something to present for a vote by the community? Is there any point?
I ask only because I obviously want things to move in a positive direction to make the software better and to make the experience of using the software better.
You want to build a website? Go ahead. Any monkey with a computer connected to the internet and notepad can create a website. Everything else is a matter of scale.
Yesterday I had a conversation on IRC, which ultimately went nowhere (as a lot of these conversations have done in the past over there), so I thought I’d explain the reason for revisiting the branding, website, documentation aspects of the Habari project and why I feel that ultimately it’s hurting the development of the software.
Design
Although much of design is thought of as subjective, obviously it’s not all subjective. There are rules that you can abide by, or completely ignore. The thing is, unlike code, if you don’t design it ‘correctly’ it’s not going break and give you back an error. The error isn’t immediate rather it is one the appears over the long term. What it will do is fragment your target audience, or detract them from coming back, or sticking around long enough to see if you’re worth the effort.
Habari has been going on for nearly 3 years now and while it seemed ok in the first few years for the software to have a less than adequate branding, right now I think it’s hurting the exposure of the software to invite new people. Maybe I’m wrong, but from looking around in the community areas, forum, IRC and mailing list and how active those are, as opposed to how active they could be, I don’t think I’m far off.
The issue here is that critical mass hasn’t happened, nor is a uniform infrastructure in place to allow it to flourish. And while some might think that these things aren’t important, I beg to differ. If you’re happy with the software doing what it does right now, and don’t want it to improve, then fine, there’s version 0.63 blog off; those that want to enhance the software and the blogging experiences of Habari, read on.
Free
The problem you see is that there are quite a few different solutions out there for anyone to use. These alternative solutions are all free, they’re generally pretty mature in features, have decent documentation, and have a community (with varying degrees of success).
It’s not like going Habari, means you get a cheaper product. You get other things with Habari, which unfortunately have not been flaunted properly, because well, they haven’t been flaunted at all. Again the devil is in the detail.
New Blood
So what’s the problem you ask? Well, the real problem here is that by not attracting a larger user base, you’re also detracting from new blood coming into the doors. This then reduces the amount of developers available to submit patches, to create plugins, to create themes, to push the general boundaries of the software. It’s left on the shoulders of an able few, and so the software takes more and more time to move forward, often putting more undue strain on the existing developers, which ultimately isn’t healthy for the general future of the software.
Solution
And you’re solution is what? A new logo?
It’s the start of the solution. The actual solution requires attack from several different directions. The things that I think need to be considered are:
Branding
Website
Documentation
1. Branding
Branding can be used to provide awareness back to the software. There are enough different solutions out there, which means Habari needs to distinguish itself somehow. Having a beautiful logo will entice people to put it onto their sites as a badge of pride and thus provide more widespread awareness back to the software. This of course brings up the whole subjective nature of what makes a beautiful logo. A good logo is memorable and should reflect the values/ideology of that which it is representing. It doesn’t need to SHOUT it’s raison d’etre. I’ve done my part with regards to this so I’ll move on.
Branding isn’t only a logo. Thankfully the admin panel and the code itself has already defined these aspects. Elegance. Simplicity. Modern. Black. Grey. Inventive. ‘Out of the way’. All words to help better define the Habari branding. All elements which should be extended to the rest of the Habari presence online.
2. Website
Which brings us to the website. This is both our best and worst tool at the moment. When someone types in Habari in google or clicks on any one of the plethora of CMS demo sites, they are taken to the habariproject.org website. That is their first habari experience (after the name).
While you can’t be something to everyone, the website should at the very least try and address the various userbases: hobbyist, developer, designer.
The real shame of it (which is why I’m writing this) is that the site, does the software base a HUGE disfavour. The software and admin is better than that. It deserves better than that. Many times depending on how professionally put together a website appears it will attract or drive away potential users.
At the moment the page doesn’t do a good job of conveying what makes Habari special and better than the other solutions. It doesn’t distinguish itself.
3. Documentation
The importance of this cannot be overstated. The problem is, you need a larger user base in order to tackle this. The current documentation is written for developers. The complete novice, or neophyte like myself won’t be able to understand what’s going on most of the time. There is a way to writing good documentation and we need to address this as well. I have a few ideas with regards to this as well (I’ve done this within the company I work for).
Remaining Questions
How do we entice the young aspiring developers looking to gain some experience to come to us? How do we get the developer who is more familiar with WordPress or Textpattern? How do you get the web designer, who wants a more elegant solution (there’s that word again)? While some of these questions are somewhat answered by the current website, again I feel they’re not presented in the correct manner, but that’s the next post.
I don’t have the power to enforce said changes, so I’ll talk and present my ideas on this site; if they’re employed, then that’s fantastic; but in a year’s time when we’re looking at the same general user base (having not gained much further traction) then maybe some of this will become more important. If not I’d happily eat some claim chowder.
So now that we’ve got ourselves a kick ass logo, now would be a good time to make some badges so that everyone can put them on their websites and you know, spread the word.
In this set you’ll also find a few with Habari written in them.
See how that logo gets integrated? The font used is Gill Sans, which is one of my favourite fonts - you can see it in use on this site. The reason I think it works here is because it’s rounded so it retains an element associated with the logo (the playful nature of the logo), and yet bold and modern (like the software). The package contains:
Logo
PNG - Light grey on white background
PNG - Dark grey on light grey background
PNG - White on dark grey background
EPS - Vector for you to customise as you wish
Logo with Habari
These come in two sizes, 460px and 180px widths.
PNG - Dark grey on light grey background
PNG - Light grey on dark grey background
PNG - White on dark grey background
PNG - White on light grey background
These will also find a permenant home at www.brokenkode.com/habari .
For those who know me from my professional life (I’m a Chartered Engineer), know what a complete filing freak I am. All graduates that have helped me out, or that I’ve had anything to do with their training have gone through an induction with regards to how to file things properly. It’s a MASSIVE bug bear with me.
When I had that moment of madness and I moved over to WordPress, what struck me was that Habari’s elegance doesn’t extend to just the admin panel. In Habari it extends to the filing structure, which I really want to shine a bit of a spotlight on, only because I think it’s not generally discussed and I think that the developers deserve mad props for building this elegance in.
When you download a copy of Habari and you open your folder, you’re presented with the following files and folders:
Let’s compare some of the other people:
WordPress
Textpattern
Chyrp
There are a couple of things to take from the above. The first is the number of files without folders. In Habari, this is a total of 3, in WordPress it’s 23, in Textpattern it’s 4, while in Chyrp it’s 5.
The second thing to pay close attention to is the names chosen for these folders. I know which I feel is the clearest filing structure of those above.
Lets turn our attention to the main menu in Habari. As I mentioned before there has to be a better way than the current method. The reasoning for the current menu is simple, once you start adding all the menu items (including those provided by the various plugin) the list becoming very long indeed. Without any plugin menus this is what is currently there (including one of the expanded menu version):
And here’s that menu with one of the side menus popping out:
From my personal use, I only need 8 menu items in total:
New Entry
New Page
Manage
Comments
Dashboard
Plugins
Options
Logout
For me everything else is completely superflous, or at least it’s bloody rare for me to even go there, like once a year if that (I don’t think I’ve ever gone to the logs and groups menu for example). As I said that’s only because of the way I choose to use Habari. Other users might feel like they want something a bit different, and this type of functionality would allow
Proposal
The Menu plugin would allow you (in the options page) to hide all the menu items, spare the Dashboard, Options and Logout menu items (for obvious reasons). From then on, it’s open season for you to configure your drop down menu as you wish. This would reduce the need for side menus to pop out. It would also empower the user to customise the menu which would in turn hopefully streamline the workflow, your route from A to B.
The other aspect of this Menu plugin that would also hopefully enhance the experience, would be bringing the shortcut numbers back. In the options menu we would also provide an option to assign the menu option with a keyboard shortcut to a menu item. This way we’d get back to a more streamlined workflow, which is slightly hindered by an additional keyboard stroke (at least in my eyes it is).
Future Details
While talking with Michael on #irc about the above, one of the things that he brought forward is maybe having an option to expand all the menu items by double clicking ‘Q’ or something like that, which I think is an excellent idea. Also in the options menu apart from just a quick tickbox to see whether or not you want the menu item to be shown or not we might also be able to provide the option to rearrange the menu itself, thus providing further customisation, enhancing elegance.