LWN web design
LWN web design
Posted Nov 10, 2009 0:10 UTC (Tue) by anselm (subscriber, #2796)In reply to: LWN web design by kragil
Parent article: KS2009: How Google uses Linux
If your resources are limited (as LWN.net's are) it makes sense to stay away from stuff that is essentially eye candy for people who must always have the latest and greatest, and concentrate on stuff that benefits all your readers, like compelling content. If I was in charge of HTML/CSS development for LWN.net, I would consider some changes but they would not in the first instance touch the visual appearance -- I would probably move to a purely CSS-based (instead of table-based) layout to make the site more accessible. I might change some of the visual design but only to improve readability, not to make substantial changes to the layout as it appears. IMHO, such changes would be worthwhile but they would not be changes for change's sake the way you seem to be advocating. (Feel free to suggest anything specific that will actually improve the reader's experience if you can think of something.)
As far as Google is concerned, when the site was new it looked completely unlike all the other search engines precisely because it went back to the basics and presented essentially a logo, text entry widget and search button. In spite of this »conservative attitude« it still went on to become the most popular search engine on the planet. Again, it was the content that made the difference, not the (lack of) bling; people were attracted more by the good results Google produced than they were turned off by the straightforward appearance. Also, in spite of not changing its appearance substantially during the last decade or so, www.google.com isn't likely to go away anytime soon, either.
Finally, the »big stream of money« from subscribers is, to a large degree, what keeps LWN.net going. Jon & co. may, in fact, be very interested in updating their web design but perhaps they can't afford to spend the time or money at this moment. So if you want them to be able to contemplate non-essential tasks like HTML/CSS hacking, instead of whining about how LWN.net will go away if they don't »adapt« you should really contribute to their bottom line by taking out a subscription, which will certainly have a much greater impact than any amount of whining.
Posted Nov 10, 2009 1:11 UTC (Tue)
by kragil (guest, #34373)
[Link] (5 responses)
Posted Nov 10, 2009 10:51 UTC (Tue)
by anselm (subscriber, #2796)
[Link] (4 responses)
This is getting silly. If you can't point to anything specific and
constructive that you would actually change to improve LWN.net
other than »use rounded corners, they're cool« this must mean that the
site isn't so bad to begin with, so I'll politely and respectfully suggest
you shut up.
Posted Nov 10, 2009 12:06 UTC (Tue)
by kragil (guest, #34373)
[Link] (3 responses)
Get a good web designer that knows modern web design (page layout, usability, style, colours, logo etc.) and have him/her improve the crappy first impression this site makes. That may or may not include rounded corners. I don't know as I am not a web designer as I already mentioned and explained that that was just one tiny technical example, which still does not fit into your brain. All I know is that this sites design (unprofessional logo with green font, annoying flashy ads, black,red or blue text, grey and orange boxes, no advanced CSS etc.) undeniably makes a bad impression, which does not help anybody.
Posted Nov 10, 2009 12:31 UTC (Tue)
by hppnq (guest, #14462)
[Link]
Posted Nov 10, 2009 12:33 UTC (Tue)
by quotemstr (subscriber, #45331)
[Link] (1 responses)
Posted Nov 10, 2009 12:40 UTC (Tue)
by nye (subscriber, #51576)
[Link]
LWN web design
And I suggested that you google for CSS capabilities and designs.
LWN web design
LWN web design
This doesn't have cost a lot. There are a lot of talented young web monkeys out there that don't charge a lot per hour. First thing though is to acknowledge that not everything is peachy.
Another cup of Open Source, anyone?
LWN web design
My original point, if I may flesh it out a bit, is that the kind of person bothered by LWN's layout probably won't get much out of LWN's content in the first place. LWN's attraction to me is the deep, literate, and mature coverage, and to a lesser extent, the informative and useful comment section. I couldn't care less how the site looks, and would be just as happy (no, happier) if I could read it over NNTP. Changing lwn.net to pander to the Digg crowd would compromise what makes LWN worthwhile in the first place. Franky, the kind of person who judges a site based on how Web 2.0 it is would find the articles here boring, and would post vapid comments saying so. It'd be an Eternal September.
LWN web design
LWN web design