Habari | Design Week 02
It’s been a truly exciting time for Habari on the design front (not that it’s not been exciting on the code front, but I can only really properly comment on all things design to be honest). Since the last time we talked, Michael has been a busy boy with absolutely everything under the sun. All these ideas have been filtering through the designs as we build towards a unified look for the administration panel.
Remember these mockups are just that mockups, we’re still meandering trying to sort things out, this is an open design process so things are going to change. Don’t think that what you see here is gospel and how it’s going to be, don’t be quoting me fekking Jakob in my face about usability and whatnot. These are the formation months, trust me we’re going through MANY MANY loops and discussions. So with that in mind let’s begin shall we.The Installer
The installer now is broken down in several sections, and Owen came up with the idea whereby this area might be further customised by developers to make it easier to do things and incorporate elements so that it’s easier to administer new installations (or something like that, best talk to him about that). The design follows through the idea to keep things simple and as modular as possible.Stage One:
Final Stage:
Create Page
The main page has gone back a step. Originally all the Habari mockups were done in blacks and shades of grey however as the design ‘progressed’ colour started being added. We’ve taken a step back to confirm how everything fits together before we move later on down the line for the full branding of the application.Michael’s been pretty busy and he’s got his ideas regarding the media browser on ‘paper’. Once we’ve ironed out all the kinks and how it’s going to work I think it’ll be the most special media browser on any blogging platform.
We did have a great deal of interation of ideas between us on the logo. Work is still ongoing in this area and probably will be for a little while longer as we try and find ourselves the best fit for what the logo means to the community and how people will view us effectively.
Remember nothing is set, everything’s up for discussion. As always:
Habari looks wonderful so far. Looking at the mockups I’ve been wondering about the optimal screen resolution it’s being designed for. It looks too wide for a 1024×768. My proportion skills might be off and I haven’t seen the actual iteration so could you clarify.
↓ Quote | 25/1/2007
Yeah sure, it’s going to go down to 800 × 600 (in that it’s an stretchy layout) but we’re playing with the idea to have max width. Before I hear the naysayers, yes there is a way to make it work in shitty IE6 and IE7 so don’t worry your pretty little heads about such things :).
↓ Quote | 25/1/2007
I am excited to see this project moving at full speed and many bright and creative ideas sparked out along the process. Personally, I like what I see in these mockups. I love the overall simplistic and clean web UI, I think with this thing in front of me I could probably write more and better.
↓ Quote | 25/1/2007
Man, these mockups look great!!!! Habari is shaping up to be lightyears ahead of WP in terms of functionality. I really like that Media Browser. Oh and that installer? Great idea. More people will want to use the software if they don’t have to edit any files by hand. Just upload the directory and navigate. Man I can’t wait til you guys get this finished!!!
↓ Quote | 25/1/2007
Oh man! I can’t wait for a proper downloadable version of Habari.
↓ Quote | 25/1/2007
Couldn´t help but notice, I am not the “Jakob” you are preferring to right?
Anyway, just wanted to say that this looks great. You guys are doing a fantastic job.
↓ Quote | 25/1/2007
I can’t wait to move over from Wordpress to Habari. It looks so much smoother and I actually like shades of black and grey. The Media Manager looks really great. I can’t wait to see it actually working.
I also like how you guys actually integrate stuff like podcasting, youtube and flickr.
↓ Quote | 25/1/2007
The system requirements seem a little extreme for a web application. Many PHP providers don’t yet provide support for PHP 5 with their introductory plans and OS X only comes with version 4.x. Is there any particular reason why the Habari team chose requirements like PHP 5 and PDO?
↓ Quote | 25/1/2007
Who mentioned introductory plans? And who mentioned OS X?
↓ Quote | 25/1/2007
asiftr said:
Reasons for PHP5? Well it’s been around for a few years now, and it’s a little bit more functional (ie a lot more functional). Anyway I’m not going to get into the whys to be honest, the other guys have more than adequately covered that.
As for OSX, erm I honestly don’t understand what the problem is, upgrade if you’re using OSX?
↓ Quote | 26/1/2007
I echoed this on Twitter, but basically once the installer is in working order, count me on board.
I’m not at all comfortable messing with SSH so in the mean time I’ll just sit on the sidelines awaiting the public release.
↓ Quote | 26/1/2007
I’d love to try this out but it seems I have to grab an SVN client and learn how it works first. Is there a simple tar.gz or .zip available?
↓ Quote | 26/1/2007
Flotsam said:
Nope. We’re working on the developer’s release but when we reach a point release, you’ll know :).
↓ Quote | 26/1/2007
I feel the pain of the guys waiting for the zip. I am new to svn. If you have the stomach to get started it is a doddle. Really. And once you have it you wish you had it years ago. For folk who move in these circles it is a must have app.
Give it a go. If you get stuck someone at the Habari Hang Out will help.
↓ Quote | 26/1/2007
everyone says awesome, well i say AWECORE! anyway it’s easier to spread the news IF we had a logo to do with it…
↓ Quote | 26/1/2007
Redhat will be rolling out RHEL5 pretty soon; and, FWIU, PHP5 will be fully supported. That should have a huge effect on the availability of PHP5 in the wild. IMHO, the timing is about right for the development of Habari.
↓ Quote | 26/1/2007
Redhat? They are years behind the times. :)
↓ Quote | 28/1/2007
Thanks, Khaled, I look forward to it.
@Root: When I get time I’ll try and look again at SVN but it’s not a five minute learning project :-)
↓ Quote | 29/1/2007