Feedback for repo.openpandora.org

[ekianjo]

• porg suggests subscription/notification to enable comment communication between maintainers and users and from users to users.
  
• Christoph.Krn suggests crowd-suggested promotions ("Show on frontpage tomorrow") so that the repo's content gets more assessed/weighted content, which shall encourage users to use the rating & commenting more, which again makes the content more assessed. (starting an upward stimulation spiral)
  

Aren't comments already forwarded by email ? That was my impression... but I may be wrong.


As for crowd-suggested promotions, what would be the difference with the top10 best applications?

 

[Christoph.Krn]

As for crowd-suggested promotions, what would be the difference with the top10 best applications?

Well, there are virtually always potential problems with top N lists. Just to note some of the more significant ones in this specific case:

• Rating is too arbitrary and metrics-focussed to be useful as a means of finding interesting software.
  
• Top N lists are potentially self-manipulating (or inherently manipulative, depending on point of view) (top-rated software potentially gets looked at and then rated more often than software outside of the top N lists).Software that made an entry in a top N list too often stays there for longer than ideal.
  

[*]The number of entries in a top N list is usually arbitrary, so that some software can be unrightfully blocked from entering it. (Suppose a repository that features a top 10 list is filled with 20 pieces of software, 13 of them rated around 100% quality and the remaining 7 rated around 3% quality.)




'Show on frontpage tomorrow' on the other hand, if done right, outputs a new chunk of potentially interesting software each day.


But actually, the reason I suggested 'Show on frontpage tomorrow' is because it can have quite a huge effect, but at the same time is rather simple in terms of effort required for design and implementation. Actually I think that repo.openpandora.org requires a massive overhaul; technically, usability, and usefulness wise.

 

[porg]

One simple search enhancement I'd really like to see is a proper OpenSearch description.


If you go to almost any site with a search feature (eg. my WordPress-based blog) and then, later, start typing its domain in the Chrome address bar (but not Firefox yet), Chrome will display a prompt saying "Press tab to search ...".


I actually find it jarring that it doesn't happen with repo.openpandora.org.


Given that it's not difficult (just a simple little XML file and a <link> element), this'd be a nice, quick bit of polish to add.

Seems to be practically implemented meanwhile!


I browsed http://repo.openpandora.org with a virginal browser (Chromium).


On my next occasion of typing the URL into the address bar the "search with TAB" suggestion was yet not there.


Then I used the search function on the website. On the next URL typing occasion "search with TAB" was there!


Out of curiosity I investigated by I searching in the source code, but did not find any OpenSearch snippet.


Chromium must have parsed/guessed the search URL from the structure of the HTML form. Successful as it seems.

 

[porg]

BUG REPORT:


This one with a Unicode character causes no problems:


Bug test for repo itself: (a, b, c, …)


But this one with a Unicode character at the very end of the comment, results in 2 unknown character symbols in the final post


Bug test for repo itself: 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 (aaa, bbbb, …)

 

[ShleeDragon]

https://ashleyhull.net/repo/2.html


Anybody like this kind of layout.. on both the desktop/pandora?


It's obviously missing some "polish" and icons.

 

[ssokolow]

https://ashleyhull.net/repo/2.html


Anybody like this kind of layout.. on both the desktop/pandora?


It's obviously missing some "polish" and icons.

I could get used to it, but I'd really much prefer a slightly-improved version of https://ashleyhull.net/repo/1.html


Here are my comments on 2.html:

1. While I like having the screenshots more prominent (and therefore harder for a packager to get lazy about), I don't like having to scroll to read the metadata... especially when my desktop PC's screen is wide enough for the approach 1.html takes and the screenshot isn't centered. Why not work with the browser's reflow algorithm so you get the 1.html layout if there's room and the 2.html layout if there isn't?
   
2. Change Notes should be prominent (as in your 1.html mockup)
   
3. How do I look at the PND's contents without download it (obvious in your 1.html mockup)
   
4. Why is the price shown in two places?
   
5. Neither the website nor the maintainer are hyperlinked.
   
6. The package author metadata line is titled "Package" rather than "Author".
   
7. As a matter of personal taste, I prefer dark-on-light themes (but that could be remedied by a color scheme switcher on the 1.html layout)
   

...and on 1.html:

1. The borders on the metadata and details boxes need to be darker.
   
2. Where did the comments go?
   
3. Where are the Redistribute, Category, and SubCat metadata keys?
   
4. You don't list the package maintainer anywhere.
   
5. I'm not sure I like something as freeform as the description being in the metadata box. Somehow, it makes it harder for my eyes to scan the contents.
   

...and on both of them:

1. Where are the license and source code links (and any other extra metadata) that used to be in the "Package Contents" expander? (Those are the #1 thing I look for when deciding whether to consider a PND.)
   
2. What happened to the rating?
   
3. I can't give my final opinion on either mockup until I see how you'd suggest formatting comments.
   

Basically, #2 starts to feel like the Google Play Store (as opposed to addons.mozilla.org) and that design is one of several big reasons I never recommend Google Chrome (or Chromium) to anyone. It simply values glitter and glitz too far above utility.)


...actually, when I can spare a moment, would you mind if I downloaded your mockups and shared modified versions to show off what I think would make them better?

 

[porg]

@ssokolow already gave a very comprehensive feedback, I'll add what I drafted before, as an extension.

• + good
  
• - bad or needs improvement
  
• ~ some good / some bad aspects
  

• + Emphasis on the visual content through that large pic/video carousel
  ensure that the bottom edge is at least above the fold also on the Pandora screen size.
  

[*]~ Would not make the carousel autoplay (some pandoras have slow WiFi!), on demand is better.

• Would be good if it gets a hotkey (left/right or P-revious / N-ext)
  

[*]~ prev/next button: "prev" is over content, "next" is beside content.

• Both shall have same positioning/alignment, suggest to have both besides content, or only minimally overlapping it, as it is visually disruptive.
  

[*]+ Good separation between factsheet and free text description


[*]+ Breadcrumbs

• ~ Keep in mind that there are some long titles, ensure that the title is then on its own line beyond the breadcrumbs, and is not wrapped in its mid
  

[*]- 4 indications of the price:

• - "Commercial" next to the title
  
• ~ <CurrencySymbol>x.xx<CurrencyTextAbbraviation> (another redundancy)
  
• ~ "Purchase"
  
• - "Price" in factsheet
  Suggestion: Unify them into one region/button (see Apple Appstore or Google Play). One button with 2 lines. "Buy" in large font (shorter word with same meaning) in the top line, beyond that in second line and another font size/style and background-color the price and currency (once and not both as a symbol and abbreviation)
  

 

[ShleeDragon]

I've started moving towards having a design which stacks the parts because it makes it easier to manager regardless of the amount of text included in the meta information. Being able to dedicate more room to the images is a bonus too.


I'll tweak around more later....


There is a 0% change the theme will be changed for the repo... unless I hear interest from the actual maintainers.

 

[porg]

Idea: Flag "OriginalPandoraRelease" for PNDs in the repo, for apps which were originally made for the Pandora.


Maybe later they get ported to another platform, but that those not change the flag. What counts it that it was first published for the Pandora platform.

 

[porg]

BUG REPORT:


This one with a Unicode character causes no problems:


Bug test for repo itself: (a, b, c, …)


But this one with a Unicode character at the very end of the comment, results in 2 unknown character symbols in the final post


Bug test for repo itself: 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 (aaa, bbbb, …)

Again experienced the bug with this comment:


- Cheap 1990ies look: 2.5D sprites on flat background - Super bad looking explosion: Very specific animation used for ALL explosions, instead of general enough look for all explosions or individual/randomized explosions - Accompanied with music not of my taste. + Steering both per dpad & nubs. 1/5☆


In the post the ☆ appeared as 2 broken symbols, thus I removed the comment, and rephrased it.

 

[freamon]

Canseco uploaded a new version of http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=gpodder.freamon.40n8e'>gpodder (I'm the 'owner' of the gpodder port, and I added him as a maintainer).

Shouldn't it now be his name that appears in the "Maintainer: " field?

 

[milkshake]

No because only the apps owners name appears on the front page. sorry for any confusion.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[porg]

I usually post repo feature suggestions here, but as this particular one is of broader concern, possible also an addition to the PND XML specification, I posted it to its own thread:

Special attribute "Native Pandora App" for the repo or PND-XML, so that native apps get the exposure they deserve

Please discuss over there. Thanks.

 

 

[Neelix]

Sorry for the gravedig, but this seems to be the best thread for this.


I was wondering if there is any chance of making sure the thumbnailed versions of the screenshots on the repo, aren't stretched/squished to 5x3 if they aren't 5x3 to begin with.


The screenshots on this page for example, are stretched.

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=kagiru


It almost put me off trying the software until I realised that it was only the thumbnail which was stretched, and that it wasn't representative of the software itself.


- Neelix

 

[_wb_]

It's probably just a matter of changing some explicit "width" and "height" properties in the CSS to "max-width" and "max-height" so that the aspect ratio does not get screwed up.

 

[milkshake]

I'll have a look at this when/if I get chance over the weekend

 

[milkshake]

ok I changed the css to

height: 90px; width: auto;

that seemed to do the trick, hope that doesn't put you off software anymore

 

[Neelix]

That looks much better.   

Cheers!

- Neelix

 

[WizardStan]

Know what I'd like? The ability to "flag" applications on the repo and then have PNDManager (or perhaps a very simple daemon) log in and download all those flagged applications automatically. PNDManager is great, but it's still kind of slow and limited, especially if you're downloading something.

My use case: I found myself browsing through it wanting some new stuff, started downloading one thing, kept browsing, downloaded a second, kept browsing, started a third and then I didn't have the wifi speed to browse very much anymore. The website is a lot easier to just browse through, and if I could one-click send things to my Pandora that'd be really helpful.

 

[milkshake]

Good idea I have thought about something similar before ... However it would require work to cloudef's system and pndmanager as well as on the repo so we would need to work together again.

Don't know if cloudef and bzar have time or interest at the moment.