From: Jason M. <ja...@st...> - 2002-10-08 21:51:06
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Paul Joseph Thompson said: > Let me try to cover all the bases here, just for the record. > > #1 - Let's Focus on the Main Thing > ================================== > > The first, MOST IMPORTANT POINT here is one which I have been > repeatedly making on the list. That is that we need to stop playing > with trivialisms such as UI changes and get to the real hardcore > things that need to be improved with SquirrelMail. > > That would be the GUTS. The core. The way we handle preferences, > configuration, addressbooks, etc. These are the things that REALLY > need attention. > > Call me whatever nasty name you like, but at this point in time I > strictly FORBID people to make UI changes and all in CVS - unless > there is something that I SPECIFICALLY ask someone to work on. > > If SquirrelMail is going to take over the Open Source webmail world, > we have to focus on the things that matter. Seems to me that these things are being attended to. If they are not happening as fast as you like perhaps the 40+ developers who have not committed to CVS in the last year can be of some help. It also seems to me to be counterproductive to the progress of SquirrelMail to undo changes already committed. We can't get the time back we spent on UI changes to work on other things. Restricting developers to what you want them to do alienates contributors who are only trying to make the project better. For the record 99% of my SquirrelMail time is spent fixing bugs, testing different setups, trying to keep up on SourceForge, and reading and responding to the lists, not UI tweaks. > #2 - UI Changes and My Take on the World > ======================================== > > The buttons. The UGLY little buttons. This is a WEB APPLICATION. I > think that standard little buttons that get used in EVERY web > application in the world are just fine. They come standard and we can > guarantee that they will annoy the LEAST amount of people possible. I was unaware that being like every other web application was desirable. > No reason to make that kind of a change in the User Interface now. > Someday, when we get all templatey and stuff, then people can pretty > button themselves to their hearts content. I can only speak for myself, but after spending 6 hours on Sunday bug fixing the dev CVS to the point that I can actually use it on a daily basis I thought it would be FUN to try some UI changes. I have become a bug fixer. I like that role and think that I do a good job of it. But sometimes I get the urge to do something different. This was one of those times. > Left Aligned body. A lot of my take on the SquirrelMail user interface > is simply to make things more consistent for the user. If you looked > around a bit, you would discover that most of the SquirrelMail > interface is built from tables and other content being center aligned, > with the content of those tables often being INTERNALLY left aligned. Lets face it the read_body and message_display are the two most viewed screens. What Marc and I did in regard to those were consistent with each other and very subtle IMHO. As for the center aligned text when reading messages, not only do I prefer left aligned but that is consistent with other mail clients. > The space between things in the read_body window. This, again, is > about consistency. Throughout the user interface of SquirrelMail, we > have several places (such as the mailbox display window and the BOTTOM > of read_body, when attachments are present) includes a user interface > which is very similar to that of the top of read_body. And in all of > these cases, the space is NOT there. > > It's all about consistency. > > As for the lines between things in the message list, I think they are > just ugly. Again, I look at standard user interfaces around the world > of computers (windows, gnome, kde, etc) and I see lots of places where > alternating row coloration is used. And ooh-lala. It appears that NO > funny little lines is pretty much the standard. Why? It's not some > random change, but because it looks better and is less distracting and > disturbing to the eyes. hmm.. because kde, gnome, windows, etc. don't do it we don't. Interesting philosophy. I don't think they are ugly. > #3 - Discussing Changes with the Team > > Oh no, I am such a tyrant. Guys, I have made it clear in the past that > we need to work on things OTHER then the User Interface. I KNOW I have > made that clear to Marc in our ICQ discussions. > > All I can say is that anyone who wants to make user interface changes > needs to get DIRECT permission from me first. Why? Oh, probably > because I am a terrible tyrant and I am mean and stuff. > > No, because we need to focus on first things first. This is just ridiculous and flies in the face of what open source projects are about and what it means to be part of a team. of the 55 developers listed at SourceForge how many are actually actively developing? Would not time be better spent encouraging more people to get involved with actual coding than to limit the code allowed by the people who are really working on the project? We get the point in regard to priorities, but does that mean you would rather that no code is produced if it does not fall into the category you choose? I spent 2 hours in my normal 25+ hours of weekly SquirrelMail work to try some UI stuff. How terrible! > #4 - Politics > > Don't tell me about politics. I think that developers can be mature > enough to not have to have their feelings babied ALL of the time. > > (Sorry, but I am in a bit of a cross mood today. Take the above email > as best you can. And remember, I really am a nice guy.) Keep in mind that there is a difference between 'babying feelings' and treating team members with respect and courtesy. \___ Jason Munro \___ AIM:jmunr0 \__ ja...@st... \__ http://www.sunflower.com/~jmunro/ |