Improvement Requests

[Orion Pobursky]

In order to refocus my todo list here is a standing question:

What is the one annoying across all of the LDraw.org website that you wish were fixed?

Please be specific and propose a solution if it's not obvious.
If it's not a quick fix, I'll add it to the todo list otherwise I'll just fix the issue. In either case you request will be marked as [Added]

[Lasse Deleuran]

Missing search function for parts on the front page.


I'm often using the homepage for looking up parts, and I'm not always on my own PC. You have to hover over the "Parts" button, move down, click on "Parts Tracker", and then get a page with a search bar.

[Orion Pobursky]

Missing search function for parts on the front page.


I'm often using the homepage for looking up parts, and I'm not always on my own PC. You have to hover over the "Parts" button, move down, click on "Parts Tracker", and then get a page with a search bar.

This has now been added to the homepage sidebar

[Lasse Deleuran]

This has now been added to the homepage sidebar

And it works! Wow! Knowing what you said about the tech in the other topic, this is quite impressive!

[Orion Pobursky]

And it works! Wow! Knowing what you said about the tech in the other topic, this is quite impressive!

The homepage and normal site pages are easy to alter. Template based and I don't need server shell access (CMS Made Simple for the win!). It's the Parts Tracker pages (anything from /cgi-bin or /library/tracker) that are a pain and require server shell access edit.

[Gerald Lasser]

In order to refocus my todo list here is a standing question:

What is the one annoying across all of the LDraw.org website that you wish were fixed?

Please be specific and propose a solution if it's not obvious.

On the homepage, the menu band has highlights for the drop-down menus, but not for the "Forum" and "Wiki". I think it is visually more pleasing if these two would also be highlighted as you can click it. (same as class "ui simple dropdown item")

On other pages, the non-highlighted items cannot be clicked (e.g. "Prev" on the first page of the PT)

[Orion Pobursky]

On the homepage, the menu band has highlights for the drop-down menus, but not for the "Forum" and "Wiki". I think it is visually more pleasing if these two would also be highlighted as you can click it. (same as class "ui simple dropdown item")

On other pages, the non-highlighted items cannot be clicked (e.g. "Prev" on the first page of the PT)

Front page fixed. The PT will require some more work.

[Orion Pobursky]

On the homepage, the menu band has highlights for the drop-down menus, but not for the "Forum" and "Wiki". I think it is visually more pleasing if these two would also be highlighted as you can click it. (same as class "ui simple dropdown item")

On other pages, the non-highlighted items cannot be clicked (e.g. "Prev" on the first page of the PT)

And the non-functional items (prior and newest, as applicable) in the activity page menu show disabled.

[Magnus Forsberg]

Would it be possible to limit the search to only search the header? 
If I enter only three or four digits, I get to many hits. I think it is searching in the code of the part aswell. If I enter a five digit number I get a better result, but only because we are asking a parteditor to limit the number of decimals.

[N. W. Perry]

This is probably a broader issue than you're looking for, and I think it is a long-term goal already, but compiling the various standards and specs into a unified, categorized location would be very beneficial to new users like me. :-)

[Orion Pobursky]

This is probably a broader issue than you're looking for, and I think it is a long-term goal already, but compiling the various standards and specs into a unified, categorized location would be very beneficial to new users like me. :-)

That's here:
https://www.ldraw.org/article/292

[N. W. Perry]

That's here:
https://www.ldraw.org/article/292

Oh—I do remember stumbling across that page before, but I don't believe it's linked from the home page, is it?

But actually, I was thinking more about combining the information itself, not just the links (although the various articles are thoroughly cross-referenced now). For example, on the general subject of meta statements, some of these are discussed in the file format spec, while others are dealt with in the library header spec, and still others are covered in various pages depending on which language extension they're part of (MPD file statements, BFC, category/keywords)—and that's before we even get into third-party meta commands, which I think are rightly left to those other developers to document.

Then there are also things like two separate articles about the OMR, two about colors, and so on. I also didn't realize for a while that there was even more information at the Parts Tracker about things like pattern codes, and yet more info on category/keywords. While it's edifying to understand how the various specifications were developed over time, as a user starting out, I'm just interested in what the current "rules" are and don't necessarily need to know the distinction between, say, the core file format and the language extensions.

Again, I realize this is more of a task than just regular upkeep of the website and would require some effort to implement, so I'm just offering the observation in case it happens to inspire some priorities for the future—or not. :-)

[Gerald Lasser]

Nice minor update on the "Submit" page! Good for the visual feedback!
Thanks

[Orion Pobursky]

Nice minor update on the "Submit" page! Good for the visual feedback!
Thanks

I haven't done any website updates recently.  Maybe Chris changed something?

[Gerald Lasser]

However the newly submitted part does not render. i.e. no preview image is generated. It took a while until the description appeared in the PT.

[Lasse Deleuran]

This is something I think would help the user experience a lot in the forum: Make LDR/DAT/MPD previews on uploaded files in posts.

Users often upload files, and having a preview function for the completed models - perhaps in 3D - would make it easier to reply if you are on a mobile device or device where you are not allowed to download LDraw files for viewing.

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

...
What is the one annoying across all of the LDraw.org website that you wish were fixed?
...

I know it will take time, I know there are programmatic hurdles to sort out, but the one thing that I wish was different was to have a unified menu bar across the Main site, Parts Tracker, and the OMR. Meaning, one consistent look on the user interface side of things so that there is only one set of buttons on the menu (with access to everything) for all sections of the site. Something along the lines of:

   

[Orion Pobursky]

I know it will take time, I know there are programmatic hurdles to sort out, but the one thing that I wish was different was to have a unified menu bar across the Main site, Parts Tracker, and the OMR. Meaning, one consistent look on the user interface side of things so that there is only one set of buttons on the menu (with access to everything) for all sections of the site. Something along the lines of:

I've actually already started to do this. However, I think for the sub domains, and especially the PT, a domain specific menu is appropriate. That said, I'm open to exploring some options on how to include the "full menu" in an unobtrusive way. Maybe as a additional menu option or under the "home" button?

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

Maybe as a additional menu option or under the "home" button?

An "always visible secondary menu bar" would work with the specific functionality for the sub domains. However, the primary menu should be present at all times and allow the user to access all areas of the website from any area of the website.

A different approach, considering mobile would be to have the primary be "Main Menu", and the secondary be "[section name] Menu".

[Willy Tschager]

https://www.ldraw.org/library/updates/view2002/

misses new menu bars.

w.

[Orion Pobursky]

https://www.ldraw.org/library/updates/view2002/

misses new menu bars.

w.

Chris actually noticed this yesterday. There's a bug in the script that copies the HTML from the CMS. Once that's fixed, he'll push out an update to the /viewXXXX tree.

[Gerald Lasser]

I don't know how, why and exactly why now, but I just asked myself: why is the legend for the part status showing different colors for History Bar chart?

   

[Gerald Lasser]

@Orion, is it possible to have

www.ldraw.org/tracker

or

www.ldraw.org/PT



point to:


https://www.ldraw.org/library/tracker/

or

https://www.ldraw.org/cgi-bin/tracker/activity.cgi


Reasoning is that some social media especially instagram make it impossible to add clickable links, so an easy  URL would be good

[Chris Dee]

I don't know how, why and exactly why now, but I just asked myself: why is the legend for the part status showing different colors for History Bar chart?

An accident of history. The two displays are aligned now.

[Orion Pobursky]

@Orion, is it possible to have

www.ldraw.org/tracker

or

www.ldraw.org/PT



point to:


https://www.ldraw.org/library/tracker/

or

https://www.ldraw.org/cgi-bin/tracker/activity.cgi


Reasoning is that some social media especially instagram make it impossible to add clickable links, so an easy  URL would be good

This is possible. I'll try to implement tonight.

[Magnus Forsberg]

An accident of history. The two displays are aligned now.

But it now looks like these aligned colour codes are not carried through and used on the part, or pattern, summary pages.

[Chris Dee]

But it now looks like these aligned colour codes are not carried through and used on the part, or pattern, summary pages.

I thought all the scripts were using a common pice of code - clearly not. Now fixed.

[Willy Tschager]

The:

https://www.ldraw.org/omr_compliance

links at:

http://omr.ldraw.org/about

have to updated to:

https://wiki.ldraw.org/wiki/Preparing_a_...compliance

w.

[Philippe Hurbain]

I'd like to be able to cast a novote on official files. This would act as a to-do list reminder for the next time the file is updated. Case in point:
https://www.ldraw.org/parts/official-par...s/50898s02
where I'd like the ball lip to be updated with a cone primitive (and I don't want to to that now as it could delay certification of parent subpart s01 modified for axlehole update).

[Orion Pobursky]

I'd like to be able to cast a novote on official files. This would act as a to-do list reminder for the next time the file is updated. Case in point:
https://www.ldraw.org/parts/official-par...s/50898s02
where I'd like the ball lip to be updated with a cone primitive (and I don't want to to that now as it could delay certification of parent subpart s01 modified for axlehole update).

Hmm. I like this idea in spirit. Can't really implement in the current software but will keep it in mind for the next step.