opencaching.com Geocaching by the community, for the community italian charms 87744    FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  General goals ...          opencaching.com Forum Index -> Design Wizards View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message hmarq Site Admin Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 351 Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2003 8:41 am    Post subject: General goals ... Site has to be light on bandwidth ... graphic artists making a statement we don't need. Standards are important and will be used ... XHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS *will* be used here as it solves a whole bunch of isses, from printer friendly pages, to pda support and greater accessibility to those using alternative technology like screen readers. If you want inspiration for what can be done, have a gander at The CSS Zen Garden. If you want more info on the whys, wherefores and reasons for this type of design, I recommentd Zeldman's book, Designing with Web Standards Back to top nici- Joined: 25 Sep 2003 Posts: 199 Location: Hürth near Cologne, Germany Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2003 7:01 am    Post subject: Design - basic rules Usability rules, let's keep the structure simple and straight. And don't forget all those achromatig people (is it up to 10 %?, anyway), when designing buttons... nici- Webmaster of Geocaching.de (and that is NO good design, I know _________________ Geocaching.de Back to top amnesius Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 147 Location: ./earth/europe/* Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2003 12:58 pm    Post subject: The more simple the better.. I recommend a straight and simple design without any JS or CSS blast. This enables the users with not too common browsers having a smooth ride along the pages and prevent lots of unnessesary traffic. Did you think of using GZIP on the fly compression? I think theres no need of buttons, you can replace almost all buttons by some easy CSS Styles. Oh btw, if you want to use PHP together with XML, why not implementing a 'Download this page as PDF' function? I found some classes for this on freshmeat.net some time ago.. Just some Ideas as a leftover from my previous website-creating job Cheers _________________ ~Amnesius Back to top Steve Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 21 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2003 9:41 pm    Post subject: Just a note that one of my current pet peeves with gc.com is that I can no longer perform searches using my web-enabled phone (not WAP, Blazer HTML browser for PalmOS). However things are built over here, there should be no special technology *required* for performing any of the functions on the site. Do checks for javascript and use it if it's available, but don't require it. If all a browser can do is render HTML and display graphics, it should be sufficient to view/use the site. _________________ Steve Back to top hmarq Site Admin Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 351 Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2003 5:20 am    Post subject: Steve wrote: Just a note that one of my current pet peeves with gc.com is that I can no longer perform searches using my web-enabled phone (not WAP, Blazer HTML browser for PalmOS). However things are built over here, there should be no special technology *required* for performing any of the functions on the site. Do checks for javascript and use it if it's available, but don't require it. If all a browser can do is render HTML and display graphics, it should be sufficient to view/use the site. I hate javascript. You just get a different stylesheet for pdas and everything is ducky Back to top nici- Joined: 25 Sep 2003 Posts: 199 Location: Hürth near Cologne, Germany Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2003 3:54 pm    Post subject: hmarq wrote: You just get a different stylesheet for pdas and everything is ducky Nope. It isn't THAT easy. You'll have to deliver for: - different monitors - different protocols (WAP, IMAP?) - in different formates (GPX...) - different languages!!! - ... I doubt, that all this can be handled with stylesheets only! AND think of all the authors, the site will have. We need a system that handles all that. And produces standard formates... Something to think for the tech freaks nici- _________________ Geocaching.de Back to top amnesius Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 147 Location: ./earth/europe/* Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2003 1:49 am    Post subject: nici- wrote: Nope. It isn't THAT easy. You'll have to deliver for: - different monitors - different protocols (WAP, IMAP?) - in different formates (GPX...) - different languages!!! - ... I doubt, that all this can be handled with stylesheets only! AND think of all the authors, the site will have. We need a system that handles all that. And produces standard formates... Something to think for the tech freaks nici- Well optimal visualisation for different screensizes, browsers, etc can be provided by stylesheets. WAP Page rendering is an issure related to the template rendering engine. But for WAP there are certain issues to think about ( Different WAP Versions used for the Mobile devices ) IMAP (What for?) do you want opencaching to be a free email provider? Different languages, thats an issue for the templating engine too.. The best point to start off from is to find a simple, usefull and eyecandy design, which is flexible enough to fit on most of the viewing devices. Next issue to think about is to find a flexible templating engine which renders the templates into all the needed page formats. For eg. HTML, HTMLeasy for PDA, WAP, PDF.. etc.. CSS in this case is only an eyecandy thing and to prevent an extensive use of pics for layout. Using CSS for layout goes along with saving. I wont recommend an extensive use of CSS bandweith. Cheers _________________ ~Amnesius Back to top nici- Joined: 25 Sep 2003 Posts: 199 Location: Hürth near Cologne, Germany Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2003 4:40 am    Post subject: amnesius wrote: IMAP (What for?) do you want opencaching to be a free email provider? Oh, my mistake. What is this 'japanese' format for mobiles? I-Mode? amnesius wrote: Next issue to think about is to find a flexible templating engine which renders the templates into all the needed page formats. For eg. HTML, HTMLeasy for PDA, WAP, PDF.. etc.. Yepp! nici- _________________ Geocaching.de Back to top amnesius Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 147 Location: ./earth/europe/* Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2003 5:21 am    Post subject: nici- wrote: Oh, my mistake. What is this 'japanese' format for mobiles? I-Mode? I-mode? Pls dont think about that, its not an open Protocol, you will need a special Server Software and you will need a Licence from NTT to use I-Mode. For my opinion a well running HTML Site will do the job. Gadgets like WAP, PDF, etc. might be a playground after the basics are working well. The really first issue should be a performat and low bandwith consuming system with an easy to use User Interface. @Nici: Im sorry for my harsh comment, but my english is poor and maybe sometimes i wont put things into the correct words.. Cheers _________________ ~Amnesius Back to top Steve Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 21 Location: Thousand Oaks, CA Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2003 8:54 am    Post subject: Quote: I-mode? Pls dont think about that, its not an open Protocol, you will need a special Server Software and you will need a Licence from NTT to use I-Mode. That's not exactly true. NTT DoCoMo was looking at the company I work for for a specific software solution, including a web-based widget. I was forced (against my will) to look into I-Mode pretty extensively, as I was going to be the person who was going to build that interface. I-Mode uses CHTML (Compact HTML), which is basically a subset of HTML tags with a few proprietary (such as tel: for telephone numbers) tags thrown in. It doesn't require a license to provide an I-Mode site, and it can be run from a standard web server. The fee you pay to NTT DoCoMo is if you want your site listed in their I-Mode directory. If you don't, users just have to enter the URL manually. Not that it matters at all - I agree that we shouldn't support such a localized protocol. That'd be for the locals to build, using our data. After all, isn't that the whole idea behind opencaching.com - to build a backend that others can use to build a frontend? _________________ Steve Back to top amnesius Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 147 Location: ./earth/europe/* Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2003 9:57 am    Post subject: Steve wrote: That's not exactly true. NTT DoCoMo was looking at the company I work for for a specific software solution (... ) Thanks Steve, i was not too familiar with I-Mode before and i suppose only a minority in US and Europe is using I-Mode so lets focus on get the userinterface done for 'normal' browsers first.. Cheers _________________ ~Amnesius Back to top axcion Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 4 Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2003 4:45 am    Post subject: Re: General goals ... <statement recinded> Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         opencaching.com Forum Index -> Design Wizards All times are GMT - 5 Hours Page 1 of 1   Jump to: Select a forum OpenCaching.com----------------General (The Catch All)Issues, decisions, answersLegal StuffTech StuffContentDesign WizardsCode MonkeysJust Say Hi Projects----------------Geo TagsHosting ScriptsGPX Standards Diskussionsforen----------------Opencaching.de Dutch Mirror----------------Opencaching.nl Opencaching The Organization----------------Let's Get Organized  Powered by phpBB 2.0.6 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group