[Mailman-Developers] RE: Mailman-Developers digest, Vol 1 #328 - 6 msgs

[Ken Manheimer]

> From: "Dan Delaney" <Dionysos@Dionysia.org>
> To: <mailman-developers@python.org>
> Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 16:59:33 -0400
> charset="iso-8859-1"
> Subject: [Mailman-Developers] Face lift for User Interface
> 
> Hi all.
>    Being a graphic designer I'm particularly interested in the "look
and
> feel" of the interface for Mailman. The current interface is pretty
good,
> certainly better than most I've used. But it could use some
improvement.
> With that in mind, I've made a mockup page for the General Options
page.
> For those who are interested, and especially those who actually work
on
> the HTML for the interface, please take a look at
> www.Dionysia.org/temp/mailman/ and see what you think.

I agree with everyone's admiration for your changes.  I have one
reservation, however - i much prefer the existing arrangement, if not
necessarily the appearance, of the activity index at the top of the
page.  I think the regular matrix you use is too regular - i'd prefer
the links to the configuration options pages to be more clearly separate
from the "other" activities.  I think having them in two separate
columns, as we currently do, is not a bad arrangement - though i can see
how it can be incongruous with everything else being arranged in tables.

I also have a logistical reservation about the 70-character-wide text
entry boxes at the bottom.  One thing we've been thinking about for
improving navigation through mailman, in general, is use of a sidebar
and a "top"bar.  This would use up some of the real estate needed for
hard-wrapped, full width text entry boxes.  (We've also been thinking
about how we would make mailman "play nicely" with the existing style of
a host site, another potential real-estate loss, but this is getting
pretty hypothetical.)  I just mention this to enter it into the
picture...

(BTW, i guess i'm primarily responsible for the existing layout of many
of the mailman pages - though really, i refined/reworked to greater and
lesser degrees what i originally got from john viega, and based some of
my changes on contributions, particularly from robin friedrich.  And i
have to admit to a possibly stubborn liking of the "cumbersome white
lines", which nicely delineate the options, to my eye.  That said, i
think the only real reservation i have is the one concerning the
activity index at the top, and would be happy to go with all your other
changes - thanks!!)  

Ken Manheimer
klm@digicool.com