Website renovation

[Wilrakov]

Thanks for your feedback!

I realize it's far from perfect, but it was a small project I completed in an hour. As for the download buttons at the bottom, I'll fix that problem in the next hour. As for the navbar, I thought it looked good the way it was, but I'll change it in the future to better meet your expectations.

[dbannon]

I like the structure of it but a bit more content on the initial landing page might be nice.

But, if it was a democracy, I'd vote it down because of the dark theme. The world is depressing enough at present.

I know the minimalist look is fashionable right now but personally, I always feel pleasantly surprised, even encouraged, when I land somewhere the first time that has a richer 'detail' readily available. But that is quite personal.

Davo

[CM630]

...
https://freepascal.vercel.app
...

IMHO,
this is too minimalistic, even for me. And too dark. And needs some screenshots.

What puzzles me in the current website is that when I click the screenshots, they do not open in a bigger size in a front layer, so I can switch between them, but a new webpage gets open instead.

I like the website the way it is. What gives random people who don’t use pascal the right to demand that the website be changed.

I see nothing wrong with someone willing and trying to contribute to Lazarus.

[Warfley]

https://freepascal.vercel.app

The problem is, it has absolutely no character and no communicates nothing. You could just replace the text with any other application and it would be equally applicable.
Design is about communicating meaning, this doesn't. It's generic and replacable. It has no identifiable Color Scheme that is recognizable to the users of the product. It has no pictures and no recognizable iconography. Even the text that is there contains much less information than you can currently find on the lazarus startpage.

The current Lazarus Website is to cluttered in my opinion, in that there is to much stuff in a small area. But the solution is not to remove things but to better space them out.

[Wilrakov]

Hey everyone,
I understand that some of you are attached to the current Free Pascal website and don't necessarily want to see it changed — and that's totally fine. Just to be clear: my project is a personal initiative, it's not meant to replace the official website. I simply wanted to share my own vision of what a more modern homepage for Free Pascal could look like.

That being said, I've already taken some of your feedback into account:
✔ I added a light/dark mode toggle.
✔ I included some code examples directly on the homepage.
✔ The site now works even with JavaScript disabled, at least with basic information visible.
✔ There's also a changelog button on the download page for quick access.

Thanks for all the constructive feedback, even if opinions differ — it's part of what makes the community great!

[CharlyTango]

In addition to the now modern type of “dark design”, this design is a one-pager, which are also modern.

This is not my cup of tea at all, neither in design nor in function.

I understand your push, because the whole lazarus site landscape is not really inviting or functional. But in order to achieve a comprehensive change, it needs the will of all those involved and I haven't seen that for years.

Lazarus is developer-focused, which is good for further development, but IMHO other skills are needed for external communication. Without detailled specification and defined targets you will end up nowhere.

I don't understand why every serious (external) contract project requires a specification that is as precise as possible, but for an internal project they just go for it.

Please don't take this personally, it's just my opinion

[Warfley]

If you look at websites for other languages, which go a similar route as what you are trying to achive like:
Python: https://www.python.org/
Scala: https://www.scala-lang.org/
Ruby: https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/
Haskell: https://www.haskell.org/

They all follow a pretty similar pattern: They begin with a very big logo of the language followed by a catchy tag-line and a code example which shows some of the main idioms of that language.
After that there is the download button, links to a getting started guide and/or the documentation.

Also the whole page is designed in the color scheme of the Language logo. For python it's blue and Yellow, for Scala Red and teal, for Haskell the different shades of violet and for Ruby it's red and white.

Your website does neither incorporate the logo of the FPC nor it's colors. The code examples are very deep down, and you haven't even linked the documentation or any other resources.

If a user who does not know FPC visits the website, what do they get presented that makes them want to use the language?

[Handoko]

Warfley++

They begin with a very big logo of the language followed by a catchy tag-line and a code example which shows some of the main idioms of that language.

+1

there is the download button, links to a getting started guide and/or the documentation.

+1

Also the whole page is designed in the color scheme of the Language logo. For python it's blue and Yellow, for Scala Red and teal, for Haskell the different shades of violet and for Ruby it's red and white.

I don't thinks Lazarus/FPC is strongly associated with a certain color. But I like the idea.



Before I try new software, I usually want to see what it looks like and what is the generated results look like. So please add some screenshots. Maybe you can use some animated screenshots from here:
https://wiki.freepascal.org/New_IDE_features_since
And some screenshots from here:
https://wiki.freepascal.org/Projects_using_Free_Pascal

[dbannon]

The problem, from a 'presentation' point of view is that FPC and Lazarus are different things. Here, we are talking about the FPC website. FPC is a command line thing, unless you add LCL (or other good widget sets, hello Fred !) it makes command line applications.

I understand the FPC team don't want FPC's identity blurred with Lazarus, at least in the public view.

So, what colour is a command line app ? Depends on your terminal colours. Screen shots are really not that visually attractive. Some attractive code ?

Maybe, its time to consider that blurring, to some superficial extent ? You know, first Impressions ...

Davo

[440bx]

There are a number of "differences" that are readily noticeable between the Free Pascal website and other language's websites.

The one that seems to really jump at one's sight is the lack of a logo that identifies the language. 

I'd say, the first step in making a nice looking web site (in addition to functional and informative) is to have a nice looking logo that identifies the language.  I'd consider that "step 1." (way overdue too!)
 
Reorganizing the information presented on the site wouldn't hurt either but, I'd focus on the logo first.

[Wilrakov]

Well, the new site doesn't seem to please you, so forget it if you want. The goal was never to replace the old one; in fact, the one I developed is dependent on yours. I don't intend to remove it from the internet, but if you don't like it, there's no point repeating it over and over again.

Thanks anyway for all your replies.

[PierceNg]

Well, the new site doesn't seem to please you, so forget it if you want. The goal was never to replace the old one; in fact, the one I developed is dependent on yours. I don't intend to remove it from the internet, but if you don't like it, there's no point repeating it over and over again.

Thanks anyway for all your replies.

Thank you for making the effort.

[440bx]

Well, the new site doesn't seem to please you, so forget it if you want. The goal was never to replace the old one; in fact, the one I developed is dependent on yours. I don't intend to remove it from the internet, but if you don't like it, there's no point repeating it over and over again.

Thanks anyway for all your replies.

It sounds like you're feeling discouraged. 

There are several crucial things you are bringing to the table, among them, a genuine desire to improve what is already there and, the time and knowledge to make the improvements.  This is good stuff.

I suggest you go about it roughly this way: ask people what they think are problems or deficiencies in the current site and how they would improve it.  Ask them to be as specific as possible because someone stating "I don't like it" doesn't give the causes that should be addressed.

You obviously have the knowledge and talent to create something nice.  Give people a chance to provide ideas about how to improve the current situation.

My $0.02 offered in good faith.

[cdbc]

Hi

There are several crucial things you are bringing to the table, among them, a genuine desire to improve what is already there and, the time and knowledge to make the improvements.  This is good stuff.

I totally agree with 440bx here +1
@Wilrakov: Don't get discouraged mate, people around here don't see /changes/ that often  You might even say, we're a bit conserva'stiff' 
I concur, you obviously have the skills and I see some good suggestions on how to move forward with your 'website-proposal', if you keep nudging it in a direction, that people can relate to, I think the core-team will notice your efforts and pay more attention to your stuff...
Btw. if you could come up with a cool version of a logo for FPC, that would be nice. (I think the one we/they have is just the letters 'fpc' shaped into a logo) 
Just my "Nickle's Worth"
Regards Benny

[ALLIGATOR]

• Please try not to turn the site into something unusable and overloaded with animations
• Consider the possibility of the site working without JS
• Consider the possibility of easy maintenance; perhaps the best solution would be something like Hugo, a static site generator where all pages are in markdown format
• It would be cool to implement REPL FPC support on the site, for example using WASM (I saw an announcement from the FPC developers somewhere, but unfortunately without a binary to try it myself
• I value practicality over aesthetics (which is why I don't really like the global trends of the last 10 years in GUI/UI/UX)

UPD:

6. It would be even better if all editing and the source code of the site were transferred to GitLab and the GitLab pipeline was configured to roll out changes.

(PS: maybe someone has WASM binaries to run FPC on a web page?))