Migrating out of deprecated Interfaces
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Ian Wolfcat Atha
May 8, 2012, 9:42:32 PM5/8/12
to GrinnellPlans, Alex Cohn, ian.gr...@gmail.com, grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
An inconvenience of the original Plans codebase was the way multiple
"interfaces" were implemented. Instead of relying on formatting, and
HTML smarts (CSS wasn't well-known back then), each interface required
implementing the same page, in ... each interface. That means that for
a long time, every change in Plans, had to be, more or less, done 3x
times, for each interface.
The current Plans we're using, due to Ian Young's contributions, has
moved away from this scheme. However, to reap the full benefits, we
have to move users that use the old interfaces (non-Postmodern) to the
Postmodern Interface, plus a Stylesheet that emulates their old
Interface. This will allow future implementations of Plans to only
support the Postmodern Interface. Users do not lose any customizing
capability, since that is fully supported by custom stylesheets.
The goal is for this to be as non-invasive as possible—i.e. although
there will be small differences in terms of placement, margins,
padding, et cetera, the overall look-and-feel won't change for _most
users_.
First order of business:
If people are on Postmodern, do not allow them to go back to other interfaces.
If they're not on Postmodern, tell them that they should upgrade to
Postmodern, and there's no going back.
After that:
* users who haven't logged in since May 2011 get automatically
upgraded to the latest defaults
* users who are using a stylesheet no longer available get
automatically upgraded to the latest defaults
* public plans get upgraded to the latest defaults
The latest defaults are Postmodern Interface, Slate Stylesheet.
Comments, anyone?
-ian.
http://code.google.com/p/grinnellplans/issues/detail?id=90
http://code.google.com/p/grinnellplans/issues/detail?id=91
"interfaces" were implemented. Instead of relying on formatting, and
HTML smarts (CSS wasn't well-known back then), each interface required
implementing the same page, in ... each interface. That means that for
a long time, every change in Plans, had to be, more or less, done 3x
times, for each interface.
The current Plans we're using, due to Ian Young's contributions, has
moved away from this scheme. However, to reap the full benefits, we
have to move users that use the old interfaces (non-Postmodern) to the
Postmodern Interface, plus a Stylesheet that emulates their old
Interface. This will allow future implementations of Plans to only
support the Postmodern Interface. Users do not lose any customizing
capability, since that is fully supported by custom stylesheets.
The goal is for this to be as non-invasive as possible—i.e. although
there will be small differences in terms of placement, margins,
padding, et cetera, the overall look-and-feel won't change for _most
users_.
First order of business:
If people are on Postmodern, do not allow them to go back to other interfaces.
If they're not on Postmodern, tell them that they should upgrade to
Postmodern, and there's no going back.
After that:
* users who haven't logged in since May 2011 get automatically
upgraded to the latest defaults
* users who are using a stylesheet no longer available get
automatically upgraded to the latest defaults
* public plans get upgraded to the latest defaults
The latest defaults are Postmodern Interface, Slate Stylesheet.
Comments, anyone?
-ian.
http://code.google.com/p/grinnellplans/issues/detail?id=90
http://code.google.com/p/grinnellplans/issues/detail?id=91
Alex Cohn
May 8, 2012, 9:55:15 PM5/8/12
to Ian Wolfcat Atha, GrinnellPlans, ian.gr...@gmail.com, grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
One thought: If style sheet authors are willing to upgrade their style
sheets to use the Postmodern interface, we could transparently migrate
everyone using these style sheets to the ported versions. Might help
speed the migration.
Alex
sheets to use the Postmodern interface, we could transparently migrate
everyone using these style sheets to the ported versions. Might help
speed the migration.
Alex
Ian Wolfcat Atha
May 8, 2012, 10:44:03 PM5/8/12
to Alex Cohn, GrinnellPlans, ian.gr...@gmail.com, grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
Some data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkuzbOyK3qX_dEZPa1N3YkR0NG9GekhodTRWTnByc2c#gid=1
These are Interface-Stylesheet pairs for users who logged in the past 12 months.
These are Interface-Stylesheet pairs for users who logged in the past 12 months.
Ian Wolfcat Atha
May 9, 2012, 1:59:15 AM5/9/12
to GrinnellPlans, Alex Cohn, ian.gr...@gmail.com, grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
Step 0.
Announce to CSS developers usage statistics, and ask them to port over
the Postmodern within 30 days. If they do, we'll move their users to
the new style automagically.
Step 1.
0. The default is Postmodern Interface, Slate Stylesheet.
1. Users who are using a stylesheet no longer available get
automatically upgraded to the latest defaults.
1.1. Leave a message for these people.
2. Public plans get upgraded to the latest defaults.
Step 2.
defaultinterface-styles/default/default.css ->
postmodern-http://bias.atha.io/~thatha/pastel.css (+478)
oldplan-styles/oldstyle/oldstyle.css -> ...
defaultinterface-styles/jolly/jolly.css -> ...
defaultinterface-styles/oldstyle/oldstyle.css -> ...
defaultinterface-styles/libre.css
->postmodern-http://bias.atha.io/~thatha/modern-emulate.css
centered-styles/libre.css ->
postmodern-http://bias.atha.io/~thatha/centered.css (+14)
These styles are not identical looking, nor are they meant to, but
they capture the essence of each style.
-ian.
If people are on Postmodern, do not allow them to go back to other interfaces.
If they're not on Postmodern, tell them that they should upgrade to
Postmodern, and there's no going back.
Step 0.5.
If they're not on Postmodern, tell them that they should upgrade to
Postmodern, and there's no going back.
Announce to CSS developers usage statistics, and ask them to port over
the Postmodern within 30 days. If they do, we'll move their users to
the new style automagically.
Step 1.
0. The default is Postmodern Interface, Slate Stylesheet.
1. Users who are using a stylesheet no longer available get
automatically upgraded to the latest defaults.
1.1. Leave a message for these people.
2. Public plans get upgraded to the latest defaults.
Step 2.
defaultinterface-styles/default/default.css ->
postmodern-http://bias.atha.io/~thatha/pastel.css (+478)
oldplan-styles/oldstyle/oldstyle.css -> ...
defaultinterface-styles/jolly/jolly.css -> ...
defaultinterface-styles/oldstyle/oldstyle.css -> ...
defaultinterface-styles/libre.css
->postmodern-http://bias.atha.io/~thatha/modern-emulate.css
centered-styles/libre.css ->
postmodern-http://bias.atha.io/~thatha/centered.css (+14)
These styles are not identical looking, nor are they meant to, but
they capture the essence of each style.
-ian.
Ian Young
May 9, 2012, 2:39:06 AM5/9/12
to Ian Wolfcat Atha, GrinnellPlans, Alex Cohn, grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
Cool, this all sounds good to me. It's probably worth reaching out to
the small number of prolific stylesheet authors personally to alert
them of this change and give them a chance to work on upgrading.
One minor thing: could we come up with a different default than Slate?
Obviously I think it's a great stylesheet (I wrote it), but I never
really intended it to be *the* look and feel of Plans. It's an unusual
color palette, and the top navigation might be confusing to new users.
I've always thought that [erbveron]'s stylesheet would make a good
default - IIRC it just needs a little tweaking for completeness and
browser compatibility. I could probably help out a little with that if
Veronica doesn't have time to do it herself.
Ian
the small number of prolific stylesheet authors personally to alert
them of this change and give them a chance to work on upgrading.
One minor thing: could we come up with a different default than Slate?
Obviously I think it's a great stylesheet (I wrote it), but I never
really intended it to be *the* look and feel of Plans. It's an unusual
color palette, and the top navigation might be confusing to new users.
I've always thought that [erbveron]'s stylesheet would make a good
default - IIRC it just needs a little tweaking for completeness and
browser compatibility. I could probably help out a little with that if
Veronica doesn't have time to do it herself.
Ian
Alex Cohn
May 9, 2012, 4:34:06 AM5/9/12
to Ian Young, Ian Wolfcat Atha, GrinnellPlans, grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
re. default stylesheet: I agree! I really like Veronica Erb's Ever So
Simple, and feel like it's a much more "friendly" first look for
Plans. I'm currently using a tweaked version of it myself.
If I recall correctly, it doesn't have any styling for secrets,
there's no decoration on infomessages, and the font sizes in the
footer are inconsistent, leading to awkward word wrapping. I've fixed
these to varying degrees of success; feel free to take a look at my
tweaks: https://sapphire.alexcohn.com/css/eversosimple.css (I wouldn't
recommend using my version, as I've also done weird things to how
autoread lists are displayed)
re. plan of action: Looks good to me. Thanks for creating
ports-in-spirit of the older styles, [athanasa]!
Simple, and feel like it's a much more "friendly" first look for
Plans. I'm currently using a tweaked version of it myself.
If I recall correctly, it doesn't have any styling for secrets,
there's no decoration on infomessages, and the font sizes in the
footer are inconsistent, leading to awkward word wrapping. I've fixed
these to varying degrees of success; feel free to take a look at my
tweaks: https://sapphire.alexcohn.com/css/eversosimple.css (I wouldn't
recommend using my version, as I've also done weird things to how
autoread lists are displayed)
re. plan of action: Looks good to me. Thanks for creating
ports-in-spirit of the older styles, [athanasa]!
Greg Fuller
May 9, 2012, 8:06:01 AM5/9/12
to grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
The only reason I haven't switched is because notes voting wasn't implemented in postmodern, but that was a long time ago. I know a few other notes users haven't for the same reason.
Has it been implemented since then? If so I'll switch over today.
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Anna Carey
May 9, 2012, 2:45:21 PM5/9/12
to grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
Sounds great to me. If/when we get going on the rails rewrite this
will save a lot of time. I wasn't willing to put in the work to do
multiple interfaces.
Could we take the more popular custom stylesheets and make them
selectable "style options"? I think that'd make the transition a lot
more pleasant. I love the postmodern interface, but the two
stylesheets that are there now look like they're there to show off
what "postmodern" can do. I think that it's important that the less
technically-inclined can just select a style with a radio box.
I tried out the more popular stylesheets in the spreadsheet and this
one http://www.jingtaoliu.com/plans-styles/10-01-10.css looks like
it'd make a good default stylesheet (at first glance).
Anna
will save a lot of time. I wasn't willing to put in the work to do
multiple interfaces.
Could we take the more popular custom stylesheets and make them
selectable "style options"? I think that'd make the transition a lot
more pleasant. I love the postmodern interface, but the two
stylesheets that are there now look like they're there to show off
what "postmodern" can do. I think that it's important that the less
technically-inclined can just select a style with a radio box.
I tried out the more popular stylesheets in the spreadsheet and this
one http://www.jingtaoliu.com/plans-styles/10-01-10.css looks like
it'd make a good default stylesheet (at first glance).
Anna
Ian Young
May 9, 2012, 2:55:44 PM5/9/12
to grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
No, I don't think that's been implemented yet. So good point,
something else to do before the switch happens. I had dreams of making
it a little more native-HTML, but I've never gotten around to that.
For a quicker solution, it shouldn't be too hard to kludge the old
voting JavaScript on top of the new interface.
something else to do before the switch happens. I had dreams of making
it a little more native-HTML, but I've never gotten around to that.
For a quicker solution, it shouldn't be too hard to kludge the old
voting JavaScript on top of the new interface.
Ian Young
May 9, 2012, 3:01:55 PM5/9/12
to grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
Yes please! I'd love it if we could start checking the more complete
stylesheets into Plans trunk (as long as the authors agree).
And yeah, I think that one was put forward previously as the other
option for a default. IMO either one would be fine with a little bit
of bulletproofing.
stylesheets into Plans trunk (as long as the authors agree).
And yeah, I think that one was put forward previously as the other
option for a default. IMO either one would be fine with a little bit
of bulletproofing.
Jing Tao Liu
May 9, 2012, 3:40:02 PM5/9/12
to grinnellplan...@googlegroups.com
I noticed my stylesheet (http://www.jingtaoliu.com/plans-styles/10-01-10.css) get mentioned and just wanted to say that I would be happy to put in some time to make it better if you guys wanted to make it the default stylesheet. I would be looking to improve it stylistically, better browser compatibility, and possible even mobile friendly (or at least low resolution friendly). I haven't updated it in a long time, so I think it's due for some tweaks and improvements anyway.
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