> A page can be terribly designed and render as typewriter text in 80-column ASCII monospace, and readers will still read it, even if they complain about it.
Ha! I would never complain about that. I'm a programmer!
Design of This Website (2021)
171–180 of 261 posts
Re: Design of This Website (2021)
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the sidebar should be a nav rather than a div to convey it's where major and meaningful navigation is found I think you are mixing two issues here, what's good for the end user and what's good for the developer and maintenance of the site. Both matter of course greatly but I think this article was about optimizing the user-experience. From the users' point of view does it matter if a section is a 'nav' or a 'div' w…
> From the users' point of view does it matter if a section is a 'nav' or a 'div' which has CSS-class 'nav' assigned to it? Yes. There are people that use devices that rely on these accessibility options to differentiate nuances in the content that might otherwise be obvious when rendered in a standard browser: text only browsers, screen readers to name just a couple.
That's a good point and I think nav is a great idea, especially for maintenance reasons. Most users won't see the difference. But some will hear the difference.
Re: Design of This Website (2021)
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
> a small icon with the three flags this does not address the main problem that flags do not correspond to languages. German is spoken in more than "the three" countries, and in these countries there are more languages than German. Thus, using flags is insensitive and alienating to German speakers from other countries (e.g., Belgium), and non-German speakers from these three countries (e.g., Lugano). And this is just…
How is using the German flag different from calling the language “German” (or Deutsch)?
Hundreds of states in the world, but thousands of languages. How do you want to do? Most languages do not bear the name of any state.
Re: Design of This Website (2021)
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is using the German flag different from calling the language “German” (or Deutsch)?
Hundreds of states in the world, but thousands of languages. How do you want to do? Most languages do not bear the name of any state.
If the language is named after a country, use the country's flag. If not, use something else.
Re: Design of This Website (2021)
#175For a site that lists its #1 principle as minimalism, it sure has a lot going on at all times. Multiple menus all over the screen, many different kinds of links with distinct underline and icon suffix, popups within popups that reinvent OS window functionality, historiated initials, graphical horizontal divider with hidden links, a recommended articles carousel, and a very (visually) busy comments section. Minimal it…
Your site is more "minimal" in that it has fewer text elements on the screen. But your site is much harder for me to read than gwern's. First, I hate dark background, white text; white background, dark text is much easier for me to read. (Note that gwern's site gives both options.) Second, your background image is a huge distraction for me, as is the weirdness of the non-image background at the top and on the right. Third, your paragraphs are right justified instead of left justified, which I find distracting. Fourth, your font is too small for me to read easily.
The upshot of all that is that I read the entire content of gwern's page. I didn't read more than a few headings of yours.
Re: Design of This Website (2021)
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
The right align is absolutely horrible and in no way improves readability. The fact that your website is literally the only one I've seen in multiple years using that style should have been a clue.
To every new, better way there is always someone doing it alone first.
...and dozens doing something different but actually worse.
Re: Design of This Website (2021)
#177For a site that lists its #1 principle as minimalism, it sure has a lot going on at all times. Multiple menus all over the screen, many different kinds of links with distinct underline and icon suffix, popups within popups that reinvent OS window functionality, historiated initials, graphical horizontal divider with hidden links, a recommended articles carousel, and a very (visually) busy comments section. Minimal it…
Of all the developer blogs I have came across, nothing beats this page for me: https://krasjet.com/rnd.wlk/julia/ It has a perfect blend of minimalism, functionality, aesthetic, typography, accessibility, and mobile-friendly design. I strive to design my blog around the same principles.
Navigation of some sort is absolutely a necessary function for any type of UI that references multiple locations in the same domain. There are none there.
Re: Design of This Website (2021)
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks fantastic on a real operating system at 1920x1080. Gwern is many things, a few of them positive, but he's not a designer. He's just a guy with an internet connection. The site works, though. Just install a better operating system, ideally with X11, that can do proper typography.
X11 does not do proper typography at all and in fact its text support is not used these days. You might be thingking of freetype / harfbuzz / pango.
Exactly! X11 gives you options, and doesn't force anything on your programs, allowing program designers to use fitting tools for the job.
Re: Design of This Website (2021)
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks fantastic on a real operating system at 1920x1080. Gwern is many things, a few of them positive, but he's not a designer. He's just a guy with an internet connection. The site works, though. Just install a better operating system, ideally with X11, that can do proper typography.
> Just install a better operating system, ideally with X11, that can do proper typography. Ahhh if only life were so simple. While I'm at it, can you provide me with an alternate skill-set and career path that doesn't need me to use Windows for my employment?
"I have to use a plastic spork for work. Therefore, I cannot use a metal utensil at home. Therefore, you shouldn't be able to make food that doesn't mesh well with my plastic spork."
.NET works with Linux, anyway.
Re: Design of This Website (2021)
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks fantastic on a real operating system at 1920x1080. Gwern is many things, a few of them positive, but he's not a designer. He's just a guy with an internet connection. The site works, though. Just install a better operating system, ideally with X11, that can do proper typography.
> he's not a designer. He's just a guy with an internet connection. His website is wonderfully designed, so I am having a hard time understanding your point…
Something can be designed well without being made by a designer. Jaruzel accused him of being a designer as a "reason" for why the site's functionality was, allegedly (and wrongly), not working on low-DPI devices.
In reality, he's just a guy who made something cool and non-commercial on the internet.