New website

[Laurent]

I suggest to merge rarely used categories. For example, you could make an item Overview or similar, which includes Features and License.

Let's first see if new categories are really needed, and then we can decide where to add them.

MP3 for example.

I mean free formats. Which is the maximum that a free library can support.
I know, you'll reply that it may not be obvious to everyone

Maybe, but it still saves people from searching everywhere or asking in the forum.

I think most people will just assume that it works, and come to the forum only if something doesn't work as expected. And it's if they want to know, they don't have to search everywhere, just in the doc of the loadFromfile functions

One would get a detailed overview of the library's capabilities, without skimming through the whole documentation. As mentioned, it is a good starting point to decide whether SFML is suitable for a project.

I really think that the tutorials index is a good summary of the important features. I couldn't do better if I created a features page.

[Yuraj]

What about creating some comparison table, for example: SFML vs SDL vs allegro and more... Tell people why is SFML better.

[Laurent]

I hate this kind of comparison. And these libraries have probably more features than SFML anyway...

[Cornstalks]

I mean free formats. Which is the maximum that a free library can support.
I know, you'll reply that it may not be obvious to everyone

It's not obvious though. FFmpeg is a free library and supports decoding MP3/H.264/tons of other non-free codecs. So it's not obvious SFML doesn't support MP3. Also, does SFML support PPM? I don't know. But I'd like to, seeing as I have some PPM images that I generate. So I'm not even sure what free formats the library supports.

One would get a detailed overview of the library's capabilities, without skimming through the whole documentation. As mentioned, it is a good starting point to decide whether SFML is suitable for a project.

I really think that the tutorials index is a good summary of the important features. I couldn't do better if I created a features page.

But it's also a really non-obvious place to look for features. If I wanted to know SFML's features, I would certainly not think of looking at the tutorials. And even if I did, I'd still prefer a more succinct yet detailed list.

When someone first told me about SFML, I went to the website and immediately did two things before deciding to use it:

• I checked the license
• I checked the features list to see if it did what I needed it too (and if it did anything else too)

If I wouldn't have been able to do either of those two things, I can say that there's a very good chance I wouldn't have tried SFML.

[Laurent]

Ok ok. I'll think about it

[Tenry]

Ok ok. I'll think about it

Don't only think about it, do it! Most of the pros are already said...

Btw, I like the new design

Do you have any experience with server side scripting (such as PHP) or client side scripting (JavaScript)? Just an idea for the download page: it would be nice to have a default, large download button depending on the users system. Let's say, in my case there would be "Download SFML 2.0 for WINDOWS", next to it dropdowns: "Choose your architecture: [32 bit]" and "Choose your compiler: [GCC 4.7 MinGW (DW2)]". If the user doesn't find the download he's looking for or is not going to download for Windows, there can still be a section below where all the downloads (like it is at the moment) are provided. I imagine something like in the attached screenshot.


[attachment deleted by admin]

[Nexus]

This would complicate a lot for little gain, especially considering that you usually don't visit the download page often.

Not all combinations between the dropdown fields are possible, so the dialog would have to account for that. Additionally, one does not directly see which binaries are provided, and one has to perform multiple clicks to find the right one.

[Tenry]

Not all combinations between the dropdown fields are possible, so the dialog would have to account for that.

Depending on which architecture is selected the items available for the compiler shall dynamically change.

It was just an idea. Like everything in the world this also has its pros and cons

[Laurent]

It don't like to make something depend on Javascript when it's not really necessary. Using PHP would require to reload the page on every action, which is not an option.

[Tenry]

Using PHP would require to reload the page on every action, which is not an option.

I was thinking of PHP only determining the OS with the User Agent String, so that the page at least suggests the aim operating system.

[Laurent]

I was thinking of PHP only determining the OS with the User Agent String, so that the page at least suggests the aim operating system.

Ok. But I still think it's unnecessary, I assume people know what OS they use

[anthnich]

I think the new website looks great. The layout is clean, not overly garish or complicated.

The only thing I would suggest is that you put what SFML stands for on the front page (or in the title bar) for brand new visitors.

[Laurent]

The only thing I would suggest is that you put what SFML stands for on the front page (or in the title bar) for brand new visitors

We're trying to put it in the logo, and/or I'll put it in the home page too.

[zsbzsb]

Laurent,
You fixed the green header bar by adding the minimum width. But you still need to apply that fix to the navigation and footer containers. The black line that runs across to divide them from the main body only stays the width of the browser without the fix.

#footer-container {
min-width: 950px
.....
}

#navigation-container {
min-width: 950px
.....
}

[Laurent]

Ah, thanks for reminding me!