Re: Screenshots for 1.3, page layout

[Chris Travers <..hidden..>]

On Sat, Mar 21, 2009 at 5:40 AM, John1 <..hidden..> wrote:
> I am planning to implement ledgersmb shortly so it was good to see some
> screenshots of 1.3.
>
> One thing that I think could be improved is the page layout.  I think it is
> important for the page to be laid out as well as possible.  In particular, I
> think it looks much better if input fields all line up below each other.
> For example,
>
> Contact screen:
> http://ledgersmb.org/files/account.png
>
> It would be much better if Customer Number, Starting Date, Credit Limit and
> Discount fields all lined up below each other.
>
> To achieve this, field names have to be chosen carefully so they are of a
> similar length or if this is not possible then consider moving the field to
> a different column.

How would this affect i18n/translation?  Given that strings are
re-used across many screens, are we creating a nightmare for
translators by doing this?

>
> e.g.
>
> Cust No:
> Start date:
> Credit Limit
> Discount:
> Bus type:
>
> These suggested field names are similar enough in length now to allow for
> the input boxes to all be aligned below each other.

Through now, the issue with designing this screen has been to try to
make it so that any such changes can be made on an as-needed basis
using CSS and the like.  We have hence been working hard to try to
make sure we have properly done HTML which can be subject to better
CSS customization than before (which involved tables for layout).

The real tasks in order to make the UI better now involve a couple of questions:
1)  How do we set up appropriate CSS file structures to do this?
2)  Who is responsible for maintaining which CSS files?

There are some other useful CSS tricks as well that can now be done,
like hiding fields that a company doesn't use and the like.

I guess I am going to propose language-specific CSS filles for now.
Handheld support is desirable, but at the moment, Pocket IE is not
supported.  Minimo works but I found it to be unstable.  I don't know
about mobile opera, and pocket IE can be supported by add-on
developers for their add-ons without a lot of work.

>
> It may seem a bit pedantic but I think it will make a big difference to the
> application if a lot of thought is put into page design and layout.  An
> aligned layout is easier on the eye, easier to read and therefore quicker
> and more userfriendly to use.

I agree.  I also think that some of these issues are going to take a
major branch or two to really shake out.