As mentiond in https://forum.arduino.cc/t/restructuring-forum-categories/1102089/141, Discourse supports various layouts that can be used for the forum; below are a couple of examples. The screenshots were (basically) taken width the same width and zoom settings of the browser so it's easier to compare; zoom settings were choosen so a bit more of a page's content could be shown. Screenshots were taken at different times in the development cycle so there might be differentces in available categories.
I would like to invite you to comment on it with pros and cons that you think that are there.
This opening post covers the home page, the next post covers the categories. The naming below is the official Discourse naming of the specific settings.
Categories and latest topics
The layout that you're fimiliar with
Note:
(1), (2) and (3) show the category description, (4) does not.
Categories and latest topics
This one incorporates a sidebar and only shows the latest topics. The user can add the categories of interest to the sidebar.
Boxes
Similar as the above but with description for the categories instead of topics. I would not recommend this one unless we reduce the amount of sub categories in e.g. the Official Hardware / MKR boards category. Other Hardware
I also think they are too large in the current production forum design. However, the size can be adjusted independently from the layout so this doesn't need to be a deciding factor in the alternative layout options presented by @sterretje.
For example, changing the maximum width from 150 px to 75 px:
Be sure to view on a tablet as well as a PC.
Screens look fine in landscape sometimes look like crap in portrait. Column heads vanish when I rotate. At the arduino.cc splash screen the "Community" heading vanishes in portrait.
On the tablet, editing is a nightmare. The top heading and edit box icons cover 1/4 of the screen, the keyboard covers 1/2, and the edit box shrinks to two lines.
Rotating to portrait isn't much better. The edit box is 1/2 width, and although it can expand vertically, the edit area is still a fraction of the screen.
Also, is it possible to view messages indented for subordination? Like commenting on a news site, responses to a specific msg are subordinated instead of being tacked on at the end?
I do no longer have a tablet that can be used for the forum. I did check the staging layout on my Samsung A31 and I visit / use the live forum from both that Samsung or a Huawei P9 Lite at least once a day.
Editing on those devices is simply impossible in landscape mode. But in portrait mode it is very doable in my opinion.
Typing on the tablet gets weird - it might be the Samsung browser, but i get severe lag and replicating LF's.
The edit box scrolls unexpectedly. The side by side preview is annoying
That will eat away vertical real estate and I have tried to limit that. If I understand it correctly, it will look like the live forum but each category guaranteed on a distinct line. I think it's possible but I'll need to research the "how".
Not what I was thinking of. Where I have outlined in red below is what I'm talking about, indent that in a way similar to the example in reply #157#13. No need for the 1 line gaps between categories and sub categories, keep that spacing the same, just push the sub categories one tab to the right.
Where I have outlined in blue is OK, don't change that.
Hi Wim,
Sorry, not really.
Looking at #13 and #15
Development Tools should be where you had it originally, Arduino IDE 2x should be 1 tab to the right, along with the other IDEs.
Development Tools
Arduino IDE 2.x
Arduino Legacy IDEs
Web Editor
...etc
Your project
Introductory Tutorials
Advice on your project
...etc
).
(4) is the home page, (8) one of the categories.
