[Directory-discuss] user feedback about web site

[Bruno Haible]

Hi,

John Sullivan and Karl Berry asked for this feedback here, originally sent
to the closed list 'gnu-prog-discuss'.

> (http://directory.fsf.org) was relaunched a while ago with a new
> infrastructure.

Some feedback about this infrastructure:

  * The categories for "to use for...", "for business ...", ... are
    a nice idea.

  * Some packages are missing: Under "Business:productivity" there is
    OpenOffice, but no LibreOffice.

  * The page http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/GNU does not respect the
    user's freedom to resize the page. If the user's screen is less than
    1296 pixels wide, there is no way to see the page in full width,
    without horizontal scrolling and without reducing the size of the font.

  * In the page http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/GNU, the sort order does
    not make it easy to find entries. It lists CPPI before Clisp and
    GIMP before Gdb. IMO project names are often case-insensitive
    (e.g. CLISP = clisp, here written as Clisp), therefore a sort order
    should be used that assigns minimal weight to case differences.

  * The site makes it hard for users to give feedback: When I go to
    http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/CLN then click on "Click here to file
    a bug or make a suggestion", it brings me to a page with read-only
    forms! The page starts with an explanation "The action you have
    requested is limited to users in the group: Users." which is ridiculous:
    1) It is possible to enter anonymous bug reports on savannah. Why not
       on directory.fsf.org?
    2) When a web site notices that a user is not logged it, it should
       present the user with a "log in" page. There's no point in presenting
       the user a read-only page and let him instead search for the
       "Log in" button among the headers, footers, and side bars of the
       current page.

Bruno