Drupal Commons online Comunity: Why do we start to play baseball (Drupal Commons) in a smaller Stadium (User Interface Theme)

wolfflow's picture
Submitted by wolfflow(1292)
Frequent contributor
16 June, 2011 - 20:48
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 Hi All.

 I really do not understand why after we all started to contribute to this Awesome Project with a great and broad user interface layout at the beginning and now we are forced into a small space without any chanse to choise another user interface layout?

 I am sorry but I really feel frustrated to read throughout the discussions and comments posts here. Am I the only one that feel like that?

 Does it really take to much resources to allow Drupal Commons Community member to get at list the option to have a broader user interface environment to work and contribute with?

 

Comments

jay
jay47 weeks 4 days ago

960px has proven more useful in user studies

Wolfflow -

Thanks for your thoughts.  I was a bit concerned about it, too; I'm a person with a huge monitor, and I can use all the width I can get.

However, the UX designers pointed to a lot of UX design research that indicates a 960px width is much more usable by most people.  There's been lots of research that shows content widths that are really wide really cause user confusion - particularly for new users, but even for experienced ones.  In particular, people tend to not know which sidebar to look in, and if content columns are too-wide, the user has trouble finding the beginning of the next line when they are reading text.

So we opted to follow the user experience experts, and base the reworked themes around a width of 960px.  Of course, there is nothing stopping you from creating a new theme that is NOT based on a 960px width.  ;-)

I think we still want to continue to improve the themes in Commons. I'm beginning to think we could benefit from another option for base theme; we'd want to keep the Fusion-based ones we have, but I think there's a case to make that we could also build one that is Commons-specific, with some very particular features in it.  I'm suspecting this should come with the D7 port, but if we could find a way to do it sooner, we could benefit from it.

GreggMarshall
GreggMarshall47 weeks 4 days ago

Don't forget netbooks

Don't forget that most programmers/power users have bigger screens than the average site visitor.

While tablets are all the rage this year.  A couple of years ago netbooks were all the rage.

As someone who travels with a netbook, and its relatively limited 1024 x 600 display, having sites wider than 960 px commonly used is a real pain since it involved horizontal scrolling (bad enough you need to do massive amounts of vertical scrolling for almost any site).

So there's a component of the user base that would be disadvantaged by a wider display and I haven't seen very many fluid width themes that work really well.

pepperstreet
pepperstreet47 weeks 3 days ago

Grid system limit?

Hi,

maybe a dump question... but is the grid-base limited to the 960 value? There is no global value to change, so the other grid parts adjust accordingly? If no, i am really surprised.

(by the way, the editor toolbar seems to break the layout. It shifts the textarea input window)

wolfflow
wolfflow47 weeks 4 days ago

Nothing to object

 Hi @Jay & @Greg,

 Surely I have to agree your comments, but allow me to replay my question:

Does it really take to much resources for Acquia to allow registered Drupal Commons Community member and contributors to get at list the option to have a broader user interface environment to work and contribute with?

 Maybe I was not that clear with it. I mean if it is possible that "we" Regitered Members and surely a bit more confident and expert in using DC, even bevause we little or most do try to help others and to contribute with our feedback could gain/merit the permission to have a broader user interface (i.e Theme like the one with more column). Just presuming that mostly we all do have really big screen and monitor features to our disposal.

Kind Regards

 

 

GreggMarshall
GreggMarshall47 weeks 4 days ago

Dog Food

But then how do we eat our own dog food? ;-)

I see your point.

wolfflow
wolfflow47 weeks 4 days ago

Just for those to understand the fine English

 ;-) Amüsed!

      Eating your own dog food