Menu
▾
▴
gnuplot-beta
|
From: Tait <gnu...@t4...> - 2008-03-24 07:52:01
|
> I have set up two mock-ups of the current > home page with info about the book included. > Please take a look. I'm a little at a loss why the book belongs on the Gnuplot front page to begin with. It would seem to rightly be placed on the "Tutorials, learning, help" page. In that location, there may be less sensitivity about how much space is consumed by the book advertisement. Release of a new book about Gnuplot qualifies as "news" (for a while, anyway) but the current homepage doesn't appear to offer any news on the front page. The current homepage seems to have three purposes: 1) What's Gnuplot? 2) Where do I get it? and 3) Links to more information. Adding 4) Look! Here's a book! doesn't seem to fit with the other three. Or maybe we want to change what's offered on the home page to include more than just 1, 2, and 3? For instance 4) Recent News springs to mind as a possibility. That will probably violate Ethan's 1-page rule, though. I agree most users visiting the home page want to know 1 and 2, so those should be visible without scrolling. Adding additional information like news below the first screen wouldn't seem to hurt anything, though. (While we're on the subject of the home page, is there a reason Gnuplot, which would seem to be a proper noun, is not capitalized?) Tait |
|
From: <pl...@pi...> - 2008-03-24 09:09:57
|
On Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:52:04 +0100, Tait <gnu...@t4...> wrote: > I'm a little at a loss why the book belongs on the Gnuplot front page > to begin with. It would seem to rightly be placed on the "Tutorials, > learning, help" page. In that location, there may be less sensitivity > about how much space is consumed by the book advertisement. In principal I would have to agree, it should have a prominent link on tutorial page and "other doc" section of the documntation page. Since it is a commercial offering I agree it is a bit doubious it even getting a spot on the homepage. However the official doc, thorough as it is, is very hard to assimilate. It's like reading a Unix reference manual, the info is there you just have to find it. It's not anyone's idea of how to find out how to use a computer. It's there for reference. Having proof read some of the book I really have to say it is extremely clear and well written. If I had had just those early chapters when I started using gnuplot I would quite simply have saved myself two or three weeks to get to a productive state of knowlege. If anything, it would probably be more appropriate to have a link to the book's site where the free chapters are. These are an excellent introduction to what gnuplot is and does and the basics of how to get flying, condensed into about 20 min careful reading. For that reason I think an exception should be made to make this available from the homepage http://www.manning-source.com/books/janert/janert_meapch2.pdf The free taster can then serve the purpose the publisher intends: getting people hooked to buy the book. This link is entirely justifiable from the perspective of gnuplot since it speeds access to the program and I believe is a great asset to potential and novice users. I regret that this was not there when I started gnuplotting. Giving 25% of the homepage to the book and its cover is probably going a bit too far unless the publisher wants to sponsor gnuplot!! regards. |
|
From: Philipp K. J. <ja...@ie...> - 2008-03-24 14:21:55
|
Maybe we should then go with a lay-out based on Ethan's suggestion: http://philipp-janert.com/gnuplot/www/index5.html Best, Ph. On Monday 24 March 2008 02:10, pl...@pi... wrote: > On Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:52:04 +0100, Tait <gnu...@t4...> wrote: > > I'm a little at a loss why the book belongs on the Gnuplot front page > > to begin with. It would seem to rightly be placed on the "Tutorials, > > learning, help" page. In that location, there may be less sensitivity > > about how much space is consumed by the book advertisement. > > In principal I would have to agree, it should have a prominent link on > tutorial page and "other doc" section of the documntation page. > > Since it is a commercial offering I agree it is a bit doubious it even > getting a spot on the homepage. > > However the official doc, thorough as it is, is very hard to assimilate. > It's like reading a Unix reference manual, the info is there you just have > to find it. It's not anyone's idea of how to find out how to use a > computer. It's there for reference. > > Having proof read some of the book I really have to say it is extremely > clear and well written. If I had had just those early chapters when I > started using gnuplot I would quite simply have saved myself two or three > weeks to get to a productive state of knowlege. > > If anything, it would probably be more appropriate to have a link to the > book's site where the free chapters are. These are an excellent > introduction to what gnuplot is and does and the basics of how to get > flying, condensed into about 20 min careful reading. > > For that reason I think an exception should be made to make this available > from the homepage > > http://www.manning-source.com/books/janert/janert_meapch2.pdf > > The free taster can then serve the purpose the publisher intends: getting > people hooked to buy the book. This link is entirely justifiable from the > perspective of gnuplot since it speeds access to the program and I believe > is a great asset to potential and novice users. > > I regret that this was not there when I started gnuplotting. > > Giving 25% of the homepage to the book and its cover is probably going a > bit too far unless the publisher wants to sponsor gnuplot!! > > regards. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft > Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008. > http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ > _______________________________________________ > gnuplot-beta mailing list > gnu...@li... > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gnuplot-beta |
|
From: <pl...@pi...> - 2008-03-24 09:54:06
|
On Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:52:04 +0100, Tait <gnu...@t4...> wrote: > For instance 4) Recent News springs to mind > as a possibility. That will probably violate Ethan's 1-page rule, though. > I agree most users visiting the home page want to know 1 and 2, so those > should be visible without scrolling. Adding additional information like > news below the first screen wouldn't seem to hurt anything, though. In my browser the existing page only gives me 1) ; I have to scoll for 2 and 3. BTW 7 of the 30 markup errors in Janet's pages come from the original, which also manages to wrap "gnuplot homepage" here. anyone need a link to a validator? http://validator.w3.org/check# <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> invalid formal public identifier <link text="text/css" href="gnuplot.css" rel="stylesheet"> there is no attribute "TEXT". and <a href="announce.4.2.3">announcement</a> of gnuplot 4.2.3, </li> "<a>" tag within "<a>" tag <td width=50%> an attribute value must be a literal unless it contains only name characters. <td width=50% rowspan="2"> viewing in IE5 does not count as a validation check ;) > (While we're on the subject of the home page, is there a reason Gnuplot, > which would seem to be a proper noun, is not capitalized?) > Tait software does not apply grammar rules for names, the software is call gnuplot not GnuPlot or Gnuplot. do you want to capitalise the command as well ? Go tell Yahoo they can't have an exclaimation mark in thier name. ;) regards, Peter |
