On behalf of Unicon's Cooperative Support [1] subscribers, Unicon is in
the process of designing and building a new Portlet Administration
portlet [2] to replace the current Channel Manager functionality, based
on UP-2047 [3]. This particular portlet will be core uPortal functionality.
In developing the user interface screens of the portlet, we have reached
the point of needing to make choices on markup and CSS structure.
== The Problem ==
There is no standard for markup or CSS for developing portlets for
uPortal. Yet markup and CSS must be developed. In lack of a standard,
everyone does what is best in their own eyes.
== The Goal ==
Set a standard for markup/CSS for portlet development for uPortal that:
* Builds on existing best practices
* Leverages the collaboration of many disciplines and practitioners
* Does not put the burden of creation, education, documentation, and
maintenance solely on the uPortal community
* Yet allows the uPortal community to participate in defining and
maintaining the standard
Resulting in:
* More rapid and efficient development of portlets
* Higher quality and cohesion of portlets in uPortal
* Improved user experience
== The Evaluation ==
Unicon evaluated these three options for a markup/CSS standard:
JSR-168/286 [4], Yahoo YUI [5], and Fluid Skinning System (FSS) [6].
Arguments for JSR-168/286
* The current standard for portlets in uPortal
Arguments against JSR-168/286
* Lacks context
* Does not use best practices
* Insufficient specification to develop robust portlets
* Ambiguous and poor documentation
* No layout specification
* No widgets or components
* No code or application samples
* No beneficial integration with jQuery or Fluid components already used
by uPortal
* Difficult to affect change
Arguments for YUI
* Incredibly robust and has been widely adopted and tested
* Has a very active community
* Provides markup generation tools allowing for faster front-end development
* Provides many stable widgets and common components
* Supports YUI's A-grade browsers
* Well-developed, high-quality documentation with over 290 functional
code examples
Arguments against YUI
* Based on a Yahoo-centric model (e.g., abstract class naming
conventions specific to Yahoo: yui-g, yui-u, yui-b).
* Closed source and governed by Yahoo, where participation and ability
to affect change is limited
* No beneficial integration with jQuery or Fluid components already used
by uPortal
Arguments for Fluid Skinning System (FSS)
* Sufficient specification and developer documentation with enough
detail to enable a UI professional to create different layouts ranging
in complexity within 30 minutes of reviewing the documentation
* Coding style and class naming convention is easily understood and
meaningful
* Provides flexible and multiple column layouts
* Provides several excellent components and a growing library
* Supports linearization, the super-simplification of the layout of
elements on a page for offering alternatives for accessibility and
devices (e.g., mobile)
* Supports FF 2.x, FF 3.x, IE 6.x, IE 7.x, Safari 3.1 and Opera 9.5
* Active, open-source community already connected to the uPortal
community, where participation is welcome and change responsive
* Beneficial integration with jQuery and Fluid components already used
by uPortal
* Produces fully-accessible results and is forward-thinking on accessibility
Arguments against Fluid Skinning System (FSS)
* Relatively young and has not been widely adopted or tested
* Does not offer as many widgets or common components as YUI
== The Proposal ==
Adopt the Fluid Skinning System (FSS) as the standard for portlet
markup/CSS development in uPortal.
I welcome thoughts and votes.
Gary
---------------------
References
[1] http://www.unicon.net/support/cooperative
[2] http://www.ja-sig.org/wiki/x/BwBPAQ
[3] http://www.ja-sig.org/issues/browse/UP-2047
[4] http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/final/jsr168/index.html
[5] http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/
[6] http://wiki.fluidproject.org/x/96M7
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