Please, let us be more careful with the webhomes.
See
TWiki:Codev.AwfulWebHomes.
Proposed steps:
- remove the duplicated search box.
- I put this back because I feel "search" is high-value feature when arriving at TWiki docs web. The default WebHome search almost disappears. Perhaps a higher-profile search could replace the regular search for the TWiki web. LB
- remove the color box around the twiki logo
- why? is that an aesthetic request or to work around the image highlighting bug? if it's about the image highlighting, arthur's css fix for highlighted images needs to be changed from
:white
to :transparent
WN
- IE does not play well with transparent and tends to draw it black. -- AC
- put the twiki logo to the top right corner again
- put the "Tip of the Day" either
- in a separate section after "Available Information" or
- into the WebLeftBar
- I don't agree with either of these placements. To be of any use, the "Tip of the day" needs to be pretty high-profile. How about having it below the TWiki logo? LB
- add
twikiTipOfTheDay
(or some other class name) to its surrounding box
- agreed. not sure how to implement. LB
- add default colors to the PatternSkin css
- use the WIKILOGOIMG variable again
MD
fixed in svn 6972.
MD.
Reopening because I feel we don't have a final solution.
The left bar is not an ideal place for the tip of the day, as this most of the time trivial information (in any case if you've read it) keeps pushing vital links down in the menu.
I see 2 different scenarios:
- on an Intranet, the tip of the day would be best placed on the start page in the content part. The tips would have custom company/intranet content of course
- on twiki.org, the tips are geared towards developers, but developers seldom go through the web homepages. If we really want them to see the tips, the left bar is the place (cancelling out the top bar). But there should be a way to collapse the block permanently - with a cookie that is. TwistyContrib currently does not support cookies but perhaps it should.
Visually the tips in the left bar look too much like the menu itself - its not distinctive enough. But that can be solved with pattern skin css.
Instead of
details...
I suggest:
Read on
AC
Redesign: have a look at
TWiki.WebHome (in left bar) and
Sandbox.TipsInTopicTest (in topic).
I've made "Read on" a localizable text. I think also other Tip topics need to be localized.
AC
Arthur: Both look good.
Suggestion: Add this also to
Main.WebHome because most users start there and can benefit from a tip (same as starting an app in an windowing OS)
--
PTh
The current design that puts the tip of the day into the sidebar looks nice but has these issues:
- Sites that use other skins are left in the dark
- Tip of the day is now prominently displayed on every single topic instead of just the entry page
I kind of like a two column layout of
TWiki.WebHome:
- Left column: Main body text on left
- Right column: TWiki logo box and tooltip box on top of each other
--
PTh
It depends on what we provide "out of the box".
- Pattern skin only is problem as this is the default skin, and twiki webmasters can choose to copy this with their chosen skin.
- The TWiki web home will almost never be visited by users, but can serve as example to use the tips in a topic.
- Sandbox web home is probably a better place for new users to put the tips in the side bar.
AC
Regarding placement of TWiki tips:
- I agree with Pth that placement in body of WebHome topic rather than sidebar is preferrable. Why add that "overhead" to sidebar. Plus, if users see it too often, it's like to become invisible.
- The problem with using two-column layout (in the body) is that it created problems for some other skins (e.g. NatSkin). I'm afraid that the only really safe option for all skins would be to place it within single column. I'm not wild about it, but probably best compromise. On the other hand, Arthur's comment that we should really worry mainly about default skin and let alternative skins adjust as needed has merit. It will be very hard to anticipate usage of these secondary content items for all skins.
- In the end, I defer to Arthur's judgement here since he's done the most work on incorporating it (and thanks again for that).
BTW, a couple of small bugs seem to have creep in (as of 7104):
- The tip icon shows up in TWikiTipsOfTheDayInclude but not in the sidebar.
- That is in the stylesheet, because the icon is a bit too big and distracting there. -- AC
- No tip shows up.
LB
I have moved the tips from the left bar to the topic of
TWiki.WebHome. And put it in the left bar of Sandbox. SVN 7127.
AC
Replaced layout table with floating divs again. SVN 7808.
MD