FreeBSD website redesign...

I noticed undeadly.org has removed the big picture of 'Puffy' they used to have on their front page too. There's still a little puffy at the top left. Hmm, maybe I'm getting mixed up with openbsd.org though.
 
  • Plausbile Analtics – the JavaScript. Do I need to write more? Not even ArchLinux.org or Debian.org do this.​
  • Keyboard‑only navigation partially fails (in graphical webbrowser). Try navigating the site just by hitting tab (and pressing enter).​
  • Ralphbsz already mentioned it, repetition of menu in the footer. Why?​
  • Very helpful metadata.​
    HTML: 
      <meta name="description" content="  ">
  <meta name="keywords" content="">
    HTML: 
      <meta property="og:description" content="  " >
  • It’s a bit embarrassing that validator.W3.org and Jigsaw.W3.org show errors. This doesn’t look professional.​
  • It is valid but really strange to use any character entities like &#34; (inch sign), &#39; (typewriter apostrophe) or &copy; if Unicode ❤️ is supported.​
    HTML: 
            <p>&copy; 1994-2026 The FreeBSD Project. All rights reserved</p>
        <span>Made with <span class="heart">❤️</span> by the FreeBSD Community</span>
    Anyway, made with heart? How do you make something with heart? Did they put Beastie through the meat grinder? – It’s a completely useless statement is what I’m saying.​
  • Today I learned that Beastie was the FreeBSD logo. – Wrong alt text:​
    HTML: 
    <img src="/images/beastie-right.svg" width="160" height="250" alt="FreeBSD logo" />
 
For a project like FreeBSD; stealing the UX/UI from Arch Linux would be a good match for it IMO. Leave the marketing stanzas for FreeBSD features for what’s already in the Hanbook/Wiki (which should also be overhauled).
 
Kai Burghardt said:
  • Plausbile Analtics – the JavaScript. Do I need to write more? Not even ArchLinux.org or Debian.org do this.​
  • Keyboard‑only navigation partially fails (in graphical webbrowser). Try navigating the site just by hitting tab (and pressing enter).​
  • Ralphbsz already mentioned it, repetition of menu in the footer. Why?​
  • Very helpful metadata.​
    HTML: 
     <meta name="description" content=" ">
  <meta name="keywords" content="">
    HTML: 
      <meta property="og:description" content="  " >
  • It’s a bit embarrassing that validator.W3.org and Jigsaw.W3.org show errors. This doesn’t look professional.​
  • It is valid but really strange to use any character entities like &#34; (inch sign), &#39; (typewriter apostrophe) or &copy; if Unicode ❤️ is supported.​
    HTML: 
     <p>&copy; 1994-2026 The FreeBSD Project. All rights reserved</p>
<span>Made with <span class="heart">❤️</span> by the FreeBSD Community</span>
    Anyway, made with heart? How do you make something with heart? Did they put Beastie through the meat grinder? – It’s a completely useless statement is what I’m saying.​
  • Today I learned that Beastie was the FreeBSD logo. – Wrong alt text:​
    HTML: 
    <img src="/images/beastie-right.svg" width="160" height="250" alt="FreeBSD logo" />
Click to expand...
The footer links are important for screen readers. If they no longer have the header menu and only the hamburger it would seriously limit accessibility.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 covers a wide range of recommendations for making web content more accessible. Following these guidelines will make content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including accommodations for blindness and low vision...
www.w3.org
 
JohnK said:
I had no idea that opinion is useless (my bad). I will inform "open source" to ignore the need to 'put up' -- but retain 'or shut up' -- right away!

I did, and I moved on to the "Made with love by the FreeBSD Community" portion (I'm working on my suggestions as we speak).
Click to expand...
That actitude of "for all you haters, why dont you write your own web page?" sorry..but is a child reaction
 
wolffnx said:
That actitude of "for all you haters, why dont you write your own web page?" sorry..but is a child reaction
Click to expand...
Since the org owns the freebsd.org TLD, that has to be a different OS release with website. But I think keeping that ad-network association is a bad idea. Did this exist on the previous page? I never noticed. I Use the page to check available releases and downloading official images.
Are they really milking the frontpage clicks now or is it for different reasons? Tell me it has nothing to do with age verification and being the "OS provider" obeying the Silicon Valley kings.
 
wolffnx said:
That actitude of "for all you haters, why dont you write your own web page?" sorry..but is a child reaction
Click to expand...
nah, it was more like me saying 'put up or shut up' which is kinda/sorta what the entire open source development model/concept is. meaning, it's easy for people to criticize without actually offering anything of substance (but it's more fun to actually try and help).

i must say though, i'm on pins and needles here: you seem to have the whole unadvisable act down pat, i'm just waiting for the actual usefulness to drop.
 
ralphbsz said:
Why is the top of the page wasted on advertising copy explaining how great FreeBSD is? Is this some sort of advertising? Who is the target audience of the ads?

Why is there both a hamburger menu (at the top right) and a bottom set of links that go mostly to the same content?

Why is there only a download link to version 15? Version 14 continues to be supported and downloadable. Matter-of-fact, I happen to think that for many users and applications, older and more stable versions are a better choice. Why would I run 14.4 if 14.3 does everything I need? And 15.x is right out. The old information about currently supported versions and legacy versions is buried behind a link, it used to be at the top.

Why is "About" the first thing (in both the hamburger menu and the links at the bottom)? The important thing is the product, the downloadable installers and code. Not introduction, features, stuff the foundation does, and disclaimers.

It seems to me that the foundation ... the less said here the better.
Click to expand...
agree, god the more i think about this the worse it gets··· i really hope they at least improve this if they wanna change it so bad

hardworkingnewbie said:
It looks like somebody living under a rock discovered Bootstrap, decided to get funky with it and failed.
Click to expand...
you couldn't have put it any better 🫠
 
JohnK said:
Here is what I have so far (but my thoughts are still very generic at the moment). If you/anyone is thinking the same thing as me, here is what I have so far. If it helps, great.


This is almost exactly what NetBSD says. o.0


As I typed this, someone posed. ... AlfredoLlaquet I think I see where you're going. I want to noodle with your version a bit (nice!).
Click to expand...
i do think it's good to have it short, it's a slogan after all so it kinda has to be easy to remember

LibreQuest said:
I personally wouldn't mind if they project page were text only with hyperlinks. The information remains the same and accessible.
Click to expand...
less is more, really··· i personally would wanna redesign it to be pretty dense, almost like one of those CJK websites but less flashy, close to how it was before but a little "tighter"
 
wolffnx said:
That actitude of "for all you haters, why dont you write your own web page?" sorry..but is a child reaction
Click to expand...
gotta agree with that one too, you don't need to be a chef to say that a certain meal tastes ass

EDIT: but of course you gotta keep it constructive by at least trying to point out where the person who made your meal made a mistake
 
Some aspects of the website remind me of cars.
Cars, for the longest time, had knobs and buttons. Change radio station? Push the 3rd button from the left. Too cold and want heat? Left knob, turn clockwise 197degrees.
Then all of a sudden cars got "infotainment" displays. Basically big smartphone-ish displays that make one take eyes off road to change radio station or change temperature.

That's what the current redesign reminds me of.
 
ruby R53 said:
gotta agree with that one too, you don't need to be a chef to say that a certain meal tastes ass
Click to expand...
And chef says "your taste palette sucks"

:)
That's kidding; food tastes good or it doesn't. Some people want a little more lemon/chili, others want less. But broad strokes of "good/bad" I think you get 50/50. "It's okay, but not to my taste"
 
For me, I think if the current design put the old menu across the top, getting rid of hamburger (or keep hamburger for mobile?) and made some of the blurb/tiles links (documentation, community) it would be fine. Enough of the old to easily find things, enough of the new.
But I can adapt.
 
that's an unfair analogy. in a restaurant, where presumably, *anyone* can attend whereas this being a technical minded group (developers, [professional {sometimes}] sys admins, etc). i think it would be a safe assumption they could: 1. give an opinion 2. make a possible suggestion for (improvement). ...*click*... I believe this is more probably inline with your EDIT so, i'm not sure this post means/adds anything useful.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mer
ruby R53 said:
yeah, the hamburger menu is definitely better for mobile, otherwise just keep the useful stuff at the top
Click to expand...
Typical design trends regarding the hamburger are only visible at resolutions that would be considered phone/tablet and you would use a media query in css or JavaScript to detect the device OS.

But a full time hamburger isn't that bad as long as the page can still comply with the majority of accessibility recommendations from the WC3, in my opinion.
 
hedwards said:
I do too, the sorts of people that took issue with the older character aren't the sort that have ever contributed positively to a project.
Click to expand...
Has John Lasseter paid for his transgressions? He has never had anything to do with BSD more significant than the original sketch AFAIK. Maybe we need to make a statement that it belongs to the community and doesn't make any statement about the morality of the artist.

I'd like to bring back the old beastie too. Maybe the one on the 4.4BSD book cover.

OTOH, maybe we should do a contest for a new one that is a 2026 take on the spirit of the original?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top