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+--- Thread: About the new web based controller (/showthread.php?tid=5631)
About the new web based controller - lyapounov - 22-04-2020 16:38
We all appreciate minimserver and minimstreamer as a great product, and yes, the new web based controller is very interesting, great move.
However, as someone mentioned, it could be usually improved, in terms of user interface ! It really looks like the first web sites of the 90's :-)
I have been looking at the code. FYI Simon, there is a div which do not close on the status page
Code:
<div class="outer">Code:
</div>For me, two things are missing :
- a real thought in terms of user experience
- lack of use of proper libraries to make it nice, such as jquery, Bootstrap, or React, which do very modern interfaces at no cost.
Now that minimserver is becoming a commercial product, why not hire a front-end programmer on upwork or elsewhere, who would do a proper design (UX + UI) of the interface ? Job would not be that complex !
This is just a suggestion... The back-office is top class, the best I have seen so far; the user experience and interface should be at the same level.
RE: About the new web based controller - simoncn - 22-04-2020 17:59
Thanks for letting me know about the unclosed div. I have checked other pages and they contain similar errors. These will be fixed in the next version of MinimServer.
My priority at present is making MinimServer available for all platforms. After that, I will work on some much-requested functional improvements as well as making improvements to the web UI. On the recent thread where this was discussed, it appeared that most users would prefer functional improvements to be prioritised.
The web UI is intimately tied to the internals of MinimServer, so it would not be simple to outsource this to someone who isn't familiar with these internals.
RE: About the new web based controller - Alandbush - 23-04-2020 00:47
(22-04-2020 16:38)lyapounov Wrote: However, as someone mentioned, it could be usually improved, in terms of user interface ! It really looks like the first web sites of the 90's :-)
Please do not take offence at this post as non is intended.
A number of people have expressed an opinion that the user interface is dated and that it should be improved/modernised/etc. No argument, but there have been no suggestions as to what would be acceptable. It seems like we may end up in a ‘don’t like the GUI, try again’ loop.
You seem to have some experience in this area, so can you suggest a number of interfaces that have got it right.
I’m asking purely on a personal note as I’m sure Simon has his own personal vision of what the GUI will look like.
RE: About the new web based controller - DavidHB - 24-04-2020 20:32
(23-04-2020 00:47)Alandbush Wrote: A number of people have expressed an opinion that the user interface is dated and that it should be improved/modernised/etc. No argument, but there have been no suggestions as to what would be acceptable. It seems like we may end up in a ‘don’t like the GUI, try again’ loop.
I'd go a step further than this. I'd say that any discussion has to be about functionality, not pretty colours and so-called design values (which are one of those things on which, for every two 'experts', we get three opinions). This is an interface that we shall use on setup and then maybe not return to for months or years. It will be a beautiful interface if it enables the user to know both its purpose and how to use it as soon as he or she accesses it. Have I a problem with the fact that it is in black and white and text-based? Not in the slightest.
Thinking ahead to the point at which all the properties settings are available in the interface, I think that it would be most useful if each property had a help icon, which accessed a short piece of text explaining the usage and perhaps giving an example, something that might allow the occasional user to set the property without having to read the help files in detail. I think that would make text settings (which I guess will continue to be needed for many MinimServer properties) easier to use.
David
RE: About the new web based controller - simoncn - 25-04-2020 10:28
Thanks for this suggestion. I agree that help icons would be useful and I think the pop-up should briefly describe the purpose of the setting and provide a link to the appropriate section of the User guide.
RE: About the new web based controller - DavidHB - 25-04-2020 19:41
(25-04-2020 10:28)simoncn Wrote: Thanks for this suggestion. I agree that help icons would be useful and I think the pop-up should briefly describe the purpose of the setting and provide a link to the appropriate section of the User guide.
Thank you, Simon. This is indeed broadly what I had in mind. My model is the way in which 'per setting' help is provided in Linn's Konfig application, where the player configuration pages are, interestingly, populated with HTML embedded in the player firmware.
David
RE: About the new web based controller - simoncn - 25-04-2020 20:07
MinimServer has HTML embedded in its firmware as well (the configuration pages). They should work without any internet connection.