Do you like the XBoard home page?

[hgm]

I am curious what unbiased people would think of the XBoard home page at http://www.gnu.org/software/xboard/ .

[JuLieN]

I can't vote, HG, because I think that from an aesthetic point of view it is terrible, but in the same time it serves its purpose very well.

If your poll is only 100% about aesthetic, then I'd vote "2". (It looks like a 1990-something web page).

[micron]

The page fails to mention Mac OS X. This omission biases me against the page, so that I too can't vote.

[Evert]

The page fails to mention Mac OS X. This omission biases me against the page, so that I too can't vote.

It says "XBoard runs on Unix and Unix-like systems that use the X Window System" which includes OS X though, so it's there, just not explicitly.

[Evert]

It serves its purpose. It's not very sexy, but I prefer plain and simple web pages in general. It also fits in with the style of other GNU webpages.
That said, I never thought of it as "the" XBoard homepage, just as the GNU page on XBoard...

[hgm]

Well, it is where GNU sends you when you click 'Homepage' on the project page...

[stevenaaus]

The screenshots don't take up much real-estate. ... Maybe put them up the top (untitled) to make the page more interesting.

There's not much Xiangqi software around. I wonder if you could make it into a heading somewhere, or create a special "Xiangqi" page, to increase it's google relevance ?

BTW, I guess GNU has given up on the hurd kernel, and in true "never say die" style, have decided to call themselves the "GNU Operating System" anyway.

[K I Hyams]

I am curious what unbiased people would think of the XBoard home page at http://www.gnu.org/software/xboard/ .

If everyone votes 1/10, you are not going to be able to change anything because you don't know whether they all had the same problem or what it was.

[hgm]

True. But the aim now is to get an objective ruling on whether something should be done or not. When it turns out something has to be done, the next step would be to prepare some alternatives, and let people vote which one they think is better.

Besides, I don't expect people to vote 1 unless they thought pretty much everything is completely wrong with it. And usually, when they are just annoyed about one aspect, they would not just vote, but tell it here.

[Don]

I am curious what unbiased people would think of the XBoard home page at http://www.gnu.org/software/xboard/ .

It's a good page. I recently read one of these blog things on web design that gets mailed to me from "the code project" or one of those other things for developers and I forgot the title, but it was something about "ugly" web sites that are just as effective as impressive ones.

Your site is not ugly, that is not the point. But the point is that a site can look quite impressive but not be particularly useful or easy to navigate. I still prefer sites that are functional and get the job done with minimal hassle and yours meets that criteria in my opinion.