Future of the website
Hello everyone,
First of all, I would like to wish each and every one of you a happy holiday season, wherever you may be.
Nine years ago (how time flies…), I started to create this website from scratch. This work took two years of difficult and solitary effort, followed by a launch early 2018. A bit more than a year of intensive work was then needed to fine-tune and complete the site into what it is today, more or less.
For almost three years now, I’ve been unavailable, and new updates on the site have become rare. However, I continue to maintain it regularly, though I regret not having the time to do more.
That said, I am convinced that there is now room for a number of improvements — to enhance your daily experience, improve accessibility, make it easier to maintain… and of course, bring new features.
In recent weeks, I’ve asked several of you for input and gathered enough ideas to keep me busy for years! I’ve also taken the opportunity to refresh my knowledge of programming languages. Over the last ten years, there have been enough advancements in browsers to enable me to do things that were impossible a decade ago.
So, I’m pleased to inform you of my intention to embark on a significant overhaul of the site. There won’t be a revolution: the overall logic, aesthetics, and identity of the site will remain unchanged (I still like them as much as before), there won’t be any shutdowns, and changes will come gradually.
Initially, my goal will be to review the site’s interface, page by page, based on four guiding principles:
The fourth, concerning navigation, will be more varied in its reception, as it touches on deeply ingrained habits and there are pros and cons to each decision. Nonetheless, I’m convinced these changes will be for the better.
I’ve decided to start with the navigation redesign. I’ve been dedicating every minute of my free time to this for almost two months, and I’m eager to show you the first results. A brief online test I did just an hour ago gave me a lot of positive feedback, but also some suggestions that convinced me to make further improvements. Once that’s done, I’ll upload my work (probably this weekend) and a new thread will be opened to gather your feedback and suggestions.
Due to these changes, some locations in the upper left corner have their menu unavailable. This will be resolved during the update in a few days
Afterward, I’ll improve the pages one by one, over the course of at least a year, I think. And once that’s done… we can start working on new features.
Rest assured, I will always strive for what I believe is best. I also count on your understanding: I’m not a professional, I program in my spare time, I can make mistakes… but I will remain very open to your feedback, which always means a lot to me.
First of all, I would like to wish each and every one of you a happy holiday season, wherever you may be.
Nine years ago (how time flies…), I started to create this website from scratch. This work took two years of difficult and solitary effort, followed by a launch early 2018. A bit more than a year of intensive work was then needed to fine-tune and complete the site into what it is today, more or less.
For almost three years now, I’ve been unavailable, and new updates on the site have become rare. However, I continue to maintain it regularly, though I regret not having the time to do more.
That said, I am convinced that there is now room for a number of improvements — to enhance your daily experience, improve accessibility, make it easier to maintain… and of course, bring new features.
In recent weeks, I’ve asked several of you for input and gathered enough ideas to keep me busy for years! I’ve also taken the opportunity to refresh my knowledge of programming languages. Over the last ten years, there have been enough advancements in browsers to enable me to do things that were impossible a decade ago.
So, I’m pleased to inform you of my intention to embark on a significant overhaul of the site. There won’t be a revolution: the overall logic, aesthetics, and identity of the site will remain unchanged (I still like them as much as before), there won’t be any shutdowns, and changes will come gradually.
Initially, my goal will be to review the site’s interface, page by page, based on four guiding principles:
- Improve accessibility for all users: There is a lot of work to be done, especially regarding contrast (many texts are too hard to read), link and button sizes (often too small or too close together), screen reader compatibility (which requires text guides and always including descriptive text for image-based elements), and various selection modes for navigation (clicking, hovering, keyboard, touch, depending on the device and user). These improvements will also benefit people without disabilities (for example, weak contrast in certain places makes the site hard to read outdoors or on poor-quality screens).
- Think mobile-first: Ensure the site is more readable, displays information better (often hidden), and has buttons that are easier to select in many places.
- Modernize and simplify the code, and make it more flexible, so that pages become more consistent, and it’s easier to create and maintain new elements. The current version of the site began in late 2015 for a December 2017 launch. Many technical choices were made based on the limitations of browsers at that time, but those have evolved significantly. Now, I can use many features that weren’t possible back then, which means lighter, easier-to-maintain code and new possibilities. This will also make pages more modular: today, each type of page was designed independently, which explains the significant differences in appearance (for example, profile form buttons are different from those on the search page, and different again from those on the messages page).
- Improve navigation: The logic for navigating the site isn’t simple or intuitive, making it harder to "discover" certain pages.
The fourth, concerning navigation, will be more varied in its reception, as it touches on deeply ingrained habits and there are pros and cons to each decision. Nonetheless, I’m convinced these changes will be for the better.
I’ve decided to start with the navigation redesign. I’ve been dedicating every minute of my free time to this for almost two months, and I’m eager to show you the first results. A brief online test I did just an hour ago gave me a lot of positive feedback, but also some suggestions that convinced me to make further improvements. Once that’s done, I’ll upload my work (probably this weekend) and a new thread will be opened to gather your feedback and suggestions.
Due to these changes, some locations in the upper left corner have their menu unavailable. This will be resolved during the update in a few daysAfterward, I’ll improve the pages one by one, over the course of at least a year, I think. And once that’s done… we can start working on new features.
Rest assured, I will always strive for what I believe is best. I also count on your understanding: I’m not a professional, I program in my spare time, I can make mistakes… but I will remain very open to your feedback, which always means a lot to me.
Future of the website
Hello everyone,
First of all, I would like to warmly thank you for the many enthusiastic and constructive pieces of feedback you've given me over the past few weeks. I’ve taken note of all your comments in a detailed work plan and continued to make progress over the past few days, although the workload has left me with much less free time than the year-end holidays did.
Unfortunately, my laptop disappeared yesterday, either lost or stolen, along with all the notes and what I had managed to write over the last ten days. I’ve lost a lot and I’m feeling quite disheartened. As I’m going on vacation for three weeks, I’ll take some time to digest this and rest! So please don’t be surprised if not much happens until mid-February.
First of all, I would like to warmly thank you for the many enthusiastic and constructive pieces of feedback you've given me over the past few weeks. I’ve taken note of all your comments in a detailed work plan and continued to make progress over the past few days, although the workload has left me with much less free time than the year-end holidays did.
Unfortunately, my laptop disappeared yesterday, either lost or stolen, along with all the notes and what I had managed to write over the last ten days. I’ve lost a lot and I’m feeling quite disheartened. As I’m going on vacation for three weeks, I’ll take some time to digest this and rest! So please don’t be surprised if not much happens until mid-February.