Request for Restructuring and Redesigning Website

[Zain-Muiz]

The structure and design used in the website is very poor considering the standard of this organization. I would love to contribute to this organization, restructure and redesign it. If the community would want we can change the whole backend to Node.js. Or else we can restructure using php itself. I am good with both the languages and its structures. This organization needs a really good website to list out all our libraries and keep it organized and professional. Hoping a positive response. Glad to work with all of you.

[Rashika101]

Hey!!
Are you willing to accept new contributors? I am interested into contributing to this repository so, if you could explain a bit more this feature request, it would be great.
Thanks

[moaz-eldefrawy]

I couldn't agree more. The UI is not the best. I would be glad to help too.

[vinniefalco]

I agree, we're working on it.

[vinniefalco]

@Zain-Muiz Can you post an image / wireframe of how you think the site might look?

[ruilvo]

Hey,

I don't want this to feel like complaining without being willing to help, but I'm really no webdev.

But here's the deal. In my honest opinion, boost has an image problem, very much fueled by this website.
I have lots of troubles finding docs, lots of dead links, I can never understand if something is under development or dead, etc. Footers saying $Date$ and a 2008 copyright notice is so bad...
Boost needs urgently a clean image. Clear docs, clear update notices, modern looking website. Boost needs to come to this decade.

If you want a reference to what good docs look like, look at Qt's docs, or Numpy's docs.

These are my two cents.

[vinniefalco]

I agree with all of that feedback, and we are working on it...

[moaz-eldefrawy]

I agree with all of that feedback, and we are working on it...

I can work on this issue. The problem isn't with the wireframe. It is mainly with how the website looks and feels. I am not a designer, but I can get one. We can provide a design for you. Give us a feedback and we'll make some changes and then implement it. But, that requires someone's time and effort to coordinate with us and guide us through the different decisions.

as for the dead links problem, we can just provide a way (in the website) to report if a link is dead and remove or replace them subsequently.

waiting to hear your opinion :)

[vinniefalco]

Give us a feedback and we'll make some changes and then implement it.

We are already doing that

[moaz-eldefrawy]

Okay, what do you think of the dead links solution?

for example, provide a hover that say "the link is dead". another idea is just to build a web scrapper?

[ruilvo]

I'm glad to see there's willingness and discussion!

In my experience, one of the most frustrating things, really, is going to the page of any library and not knowing if it's on active development, if it's dead since 5 years, or what. I once though boost::python wasn't active because the webpage said like "copyright 2010" and it was the only temporal information.

If you do renew the website, please, really put emphasis on letting people know what they are looking at. And then, of course, the docs and all. But I think navigating the catalogue of libraries really should be given some importance.

I'm just a boost user, and I think exactly because I'm from the outside I feel these frustrations because I lack the insiders knowledge.

[vinniefalco]

In my experience, one of the most frustrating things, really, is going to the page of any library and not knowing if it's on active development,

Ah yes, that's a very good suggestion. We will add that to our wireframes.

[pabristow]

We already have a mechanism for detecting Dead Links (and other bad things like trouble with MAX and Min macros) called Boost.Inspect but the problem is getting people to fix them. If you have a fix, please provide a Pull Request. Second best is to complain ;-)

Copyright date is the earliest date that copyright is claimed for and has nothing whatsoever to do with up-to-date-ness.

Nothing in Boost is out of date and everything is being continuously tested and tested with new compilers as they become available. See https://www.boost.org/development/tests/master/developer/index.html for the very latest to see what works and what doesn't on what platforms and what toolsets.

Warning - Boost are not longer trying to support C++98 and C++03 and many libraries are taking advantage of this to simplify code and use std::stuff where available (often we quietly use std:: under the hood anyway even if it doesn't look like it).

I suspect the trend to require more recent standards will continue, so plan to update compilers sooner rather than later.
More libraries will require c++14 soon, and newish libraries are quite likely to require C++17 and C++20.

[harshdasila]

Hey when i setup the website locally it is not showing the header and the components on the side like donate, download and news. Do anyone knows what might the error there?

[vinniefalco]

Have you seen the new website? https://preview.boost.org