FreeBSD website redesign...

FreeBSD doesn’t have time for beauty; it has work to do. That’s why it’s so powerful. Honestly, even a polarizing design is a sign of life, and I’m glad they’re at least trying to bridge the gap. Appreciate.
 
😤
I wish the designers of the website would consider a bit more sensitively and carefully about what they are doing.

Now the man pages site is being redesigned: From new to old design, and being named "archive."
Archiv "is an accumulation of historical records [...]"

Instead of just simply let it be good as it was. (Why things must even be changed when there is no need for change at all, especially when they are not made better but retrogaded?!)
To me this cleary says:
"Manpages are now declared old, obsolete stuff. And maybe will be removed completely, soon."
WTF?!
Now we are going Linux - documentation is of no importance?
Manual Pages are THE core, basic and fundamental documentaion of any Unix.
I know there are many disagreeing with me, because they do not understand the concept of man pages. But so do many others, not understanding UNIX philosophy or UNIX at all, like using the shell et al, or even prefer to waste hours on watching lay made irritating videos with a chance to get a 404 just to prevent a few minutes of reading some text.
Anybody gave the idea a good thought, how to document something like a UNIX OS completely, comprehensively and up to date will come to the idea of man pages. This is a concept, a method, not a technology that can become obsolete.
Since any book, website, video or whatever else is additional, optional, because it all can only show a partial clip of the whole thing and can never be as up-to-date as if the devolopers also update the documentation when they update their software.
 
This URL (via CGI) is intended solely for searching docs by keyword queries. The handbook now has a clean URL, and works just as it did before, but has been redesigned to be properly formatted and readable both on a phone and in windows of various widths.
 
vienuolis said:
This URL (via CGI) is intended solely for searching docs by keyword queries.
Click to expand...
Well, apart from that's exactly the URL I was referring to, and I was not talking about the (exemplary) HB but the man pages, and I am using this man page site not only to read man pages besides locally on my machine, also search for man pages I don't know yet, but also show it to newcomers for to get into the idea of man pages at all, I simply don't like the word "Archive" in the title.
Remove that, or put it somewhere below, where the site also links to old documentation, and I'm fine.
 
The dark mode button looks strange on my computer and doesn't have a "title" attribute. You'd have to be pretty brave to click on it!

2026-09-30-104646_1920x1080_scrot.png
 
Well, I agree the word archive is probably not ideal and implies historical interest rather than current use. Unless the intention really is to discontinue man pages it would be better to use a more neutral term such as library or collection.
 
Maturin said:
(Why things must even be changed when there is no need for change at all, especially when they are not made better but retrogaded?!)
Click to expand...
part of the current design trend nowadays

Maturin said:
To me this cleary says:
"Manpages are now declared old, obsolete stuff. And maybe will be removed completely, soon."
WTF?!
Click to expand...
i hope they just worded it poorly, no shot they'd get rid of something so radical

6502 said:
It will be good if whole site is readable / usable with Lynx or other text browser. I don't plan to use it in console mode but I think one site is fully completed and neat if readable with Lynx.
Click to expand...
highly agree, especially for a manual website it should be readable even in the most basic form of a web browser
 
I do like the direction of where the FreeBSD web site redesign is going. Clean, usable, and consistent across different components of FreeBSD.

As for use of the word 'Archive' - that's just nitpicking by Maturin ...
 
drhowarddrfine said:
6502 It's not? I can read it just fine in a text browser.
Click to expand...
Now it is (maybe can be better) but the topic is for redesign.

"Modern" web sites are optimized for phone (extra large text), full with javascript, scroll bars don't work in classic way, infinite content below, links are working with JS and URL is unchanged. I hope the web designer is old-school and there is no risk of such changes.
 
astyle said:
that's just nitpicking by Maturin
Click to expand...
I am concerend about the quality of the FreeBSD's website, which is first contact and showcase for newcomers.
If it's such few words as three and you publish something, like a webpage, it's not nitpicking.
It's a difference if you publish something meant to be read by others, or if you just scribble something on a note for yourself to remember. At least educated people think that way.
At this low count you better give it a thought which words you chose, or use a dictionary (in this case a thesaurus) if your vocabulary lacks the right word. You also wouldn't call it nitpicking if somebody points out RAM ain't no storage drive.

My fear that man pages could be banned to archive came from I presumed the word have been chosen considered.

kjpetrie said:
library or collection.
Click to expand...
have been acceptable words. And IMO not that hard to pick.
Or, as I said, just simply let it be as it was: just "man pages".
Maybe place an "archive" as an extra link below, when the current ones shall be distinguished from the ones from obsolete versions.
 
I really like the new redesign.

The only change I would make is on the Ports Search page. There should be some padding above the words "Port Search" and the search box should be centered on the page. Right now It's sitting too far left and it awkward to use on my desktop computer.
 
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