> On Sun, Sep 11, 2011 at 08:35:59PM +0100, Forgeot Eric wrote: >> why not proposing a new default pmwiki skin? >> >> - for the default installation >> - and for the http://www.pmwiki.org website? >> >> The current one is not attractive at all (blue, underlined links), it >> looks like it was designed in 1992, and therefore, it give the >> impression PmWiki is backward technology, and not powerful at all. > > Just a reminder that part of the reason behind the simplicity of > PmWiki's default skin is to make it easier for people (who may not > have a lot of HTML/CSS knowledge) to see how/where to customize it. > > This isn't to say that I'm voting in favor of the current skin, > just that "how it looks" isn't the _only_ criterion. > > I'd be fine with a high-quality and slightly complex skin if > we also have a good "how to customize your own skin" tutorial > to go along with it. >
Before changing the default skin, it helps to know what the skin design goals are. Otherwise, it's hard to choose between reasonable design alternatives. Drawing on this and earlier posts, as a starter for 10: - as the site is text-intensive, adopt good web typography practice (see for example http://webtypography.net/) - make the template and css as simple as possible, but no simpler (it's not a "show off what's possible" exercise; rather, the intent is to show that it's easy to look good) - demonstrate the power of pmwiki templates, rather than the power of css or javascript; the template capability is the unique strength to highlight It would not take much for the site to make a significantly better first impression. For example: make the wikibody about 45em wide and centre the sidebar and body on the screen; allow preformatted text to scroll horizontally, so long lines don't cause an overflow; avoid underline for links (use border-bottom on hover instead, if at all); spruce up the headings; titles ought to default to spaced wikiwords, rather than unspaced ones; more white space around the text. I'm sure there are other simple things that would modernise the look without adding undue complexity. JR -- John Rankin _______________________________________________ pmwiki-users mailing list [email protected] http://www.pmichaud.com/mailman/listinfo/pmwiki-users
