Ben changed the default start page for Mozilla Firebird from http://texturizer.net/firebird/ to "something on mozilla.org for now". In my opinion, that should have waited until we actually have something useful to present to the users instead of a boring, unstyled page listing some of the features of the already installed browser.
Anyway, instead of complaining about that premature change, I decided that I should do as much as I can to make the page not suck. I took the mozilla.org start page (designed by Ben), stripped any unneeded information from it, added links to the help pages, forums and other Mozilla Firebird specific documents. The result is quite a bit more appealing than the previous product page.
Of course, this redesign may eventually be replaced with something else, once Ben decides how he wants the page to look like. However, I thought it was worth the effort anyway, as it gives the whole Mozilla Firebird project a more polished tough. After all, this page is the one we're all supposed to link to when attracting new users. Hope you like it, Ben! :)
Posted by djst at September 26, 2003 8:52 PMLooks great to me!
Posted by: chrisgeleven at September 26, 2003 9:11 PMIt even looks reasonable in Netscape 4.x. The user support and developer boxes are missing, but that doesn't matter until one has actually switched.
You could turn the mozilla.org image into a link though...
Posted by: David James at September 27, 2003 5:47 PMNice work; looks good.
You might make the "End user documentation" more prominent (move it up to the top of list, maybe?) and perhaps consider rephrasing it to be more obvious to neophytes (since this is the start page now, correct?).
Of course, I have always found the new mozilla.org design good-looking, yet amusing, for using table-based layout, background="", and the like when it is the home page of for a browser that is hyped a lot on being so standards compliant. But, maybe that's just me.
Posted by: Tim Connor at September 27, 2003 9:42 PMThanks, David. This is quite a revolution for this page!
There a a few validator errors, most of which refer to the "Document history" line #221. Replace "&" with "&" there. And delete the /div in line 205.
And it can't find the ns4 stylesheet. The correct links is /frontpage/nav4Hack.css (should start with /).
And yes, I would prefer table-less layout (like on Firebird Help) as well.
Posted by: Steffen Wilberg at September 27, 2003 11:14 PMA great improvement, but three comments:
1) The fact it is a pre-release should be made clearer (e.g. replace the header 'Download' with 'Technology Preview' like on the main mozilla.org page.
2) Remove the header 'mozilla.org products' as only one product is listed on this page.
3) A link for details on installation would be useful for those who are unsure what to do with .zip files. Place this under the download details on the left. Just linking into the download instructions on your Firebird Help site would be good enough, although perhaps it'd be useful to also mention to Windows users how to create a shortcut on their desktop.
Posted by: Dave at September 28, 2003 2:11 PM