Improve / merge the sidebars in the wiki?

Talk about Documentation
1

I just discovered that we have two different sidebars: one for top-level pages, and another one for anything under /docs/.

You can see that they are very similar by looking at these two pages:

https://openwrt.org/about
https://openwrt.org/docs/start

@bobafetthotmail @richb-hanover-priv @tmomas do you know if this is intended? Can I merge them?

FYI, I originally wanted to add a link to the "Security" page.

2

yes it was intended, we did it to show the "Documentation" subcategories in the sidebar when you click on "documentation". We figured that none would be editing that file so often that having 2 separate ones would be an issue.

If you want to add a new link, add it to both sidebar "pages".
This is the first one https://openwrt.org/sidebar and this is the second one https://openwrt.org/docs/sidebar

I'm not against merging them, but I would really prefer them to remain different like they are.

1 Like
3

Ah, right, I understand. I will add the link to both pages then.

That being said, it will inevitably produce slight divergence, as it has already done: two link texts have been changed (Welcome and Forum), and one link is missing (Trademark Policy).

Can't we just show the doc subcategories even on the front page?

1 Like
4

By the way, we now have 11 links in the first section of the sidebar (not counting the doc subcategories).

What about splitting it in two? Maybe "Using OpenWrt" and "Contributing to OpenWrt"?

1 Like
5

I'm inclined to say: Why not?
This would raise the awareness of a quick start guide and a user guide.

2 Likes
6

I guess we can. I'm only against removing the subcategories.

you mean subcategories? Or what exactly? You can make a mockup here https://openwrt.org/playground/sidebar if you want to make an example we can see without doing screenshots.

7

Yes, I agree that we should put the doc subcategories everywhere.

That has several good effects:

  • It raises the prominence of the documentation
  • It gives us a chance to harmonize the sidebar. (There are several subtle, probably unimportant differences between the two.)
  • It avoids a potential maintenance error, since we'll only have one sidebar. (Until @bjonglez wrote to us, I would have said that the sidebar was the same everywhere...)

Thanks!

1 Like
8

Good idea to use the playground, here is an attempt at introducing several sections in the sidebar: https://openwrt.org/playground/start

Let me know what you think.

9

Looks good. I would move the forum link into the "Project" category" too.

10

The Project title is better suited for first group of links, but the headlines look redundant.

I've updated the wiki sidebar:

  • Used easy to read and more consistent link names.
  • Removed duplication.
  • Unified stylistics.
  • Optimized formatting.

Check the current revision:
https://openwrt.org/playground/noheadlines/sidebar

11

I disagree, "Project" is about how the project works and how people are organized, this is clearly the last part.

I'm OK with some of the changes, but I do think headlines make things more clear.

I have moved your changes to https://openwrt.org/playground/noheadlines/sidebar and reverted playground/sidebar so that we can have multiple concurrent versions to see the difference.

1 Like
12

All the sidebar links can be split into 3 main categories.

OpenWrt project

The first block of links is designed to achieve the main goal and purpose of the project.
That's why this block is the OpenWrt project and should be placed the first.
It should help users to download firmware and packages, read documentation and get support.

Contribute / Contributing

The second block block is for advanced users and developers who want to contribute to the project by reporting bugs, submitting patches and improving documentation.

About / Info

Technical, legal, contact and supplementary information about the project.
This is a typical about/info block that you can find on many sites across the internet.

13

Calling the about/info block as the project is confusing.
That block does not fulfill the real purpose of the project.

Let's check the categories.

Long titles

  • OpenWrt project
  • Contribute / Contributing [to the project]
  • About [OpenWrt project] / [Project] info

As you can see, each title has something to do with the project.
However, only the first one fits the final purpose.

Optimized titles

  • OpenWrt project
  • Contribute / Contributing
  • About / Info
14

I like more vgatera's sidebar, but I think headlines should be still used if you can make them smaller, more close in size to the titles/links

2 Likes
15

I think we should move forward, so let's compromise.

Here are 2 concepts with and without headlines:

Use any one you like.

16

Two sections with headline below a section without a headline doesn't look right.

I have added the top headline "Learn about OpenWrt":
https://openwrt.org/playground/headlines2/sidebar

@vgaetera invisible special characters are evil. I have adjusted the CSS to move the headlines a bit to the right.

While at it, I also removed the external link icon from the forum link.

grafik

2 Likes
17

I agree, just it was there before me.

Nice! :+1:

18

yeah, I like that. @bjonglez is that Ok for you too? I would like to end this issue and apply the changes to the actual sidebar.

1 Like
19

Sorry about the invisible special characters, that was a quick hack. Thanks a lot for the nice CSS solution instead!

@tmomas I also like your proposal. Minor nitpick, I would say "About OpenWrt" instead of just "About". But otherwise, go for it!

20

ok, went ahead with the real change, now there is only one sidebar and it is the one from tmomas link.

1 Like