A new frontend?

[davidnormo]

Hi there,

I've only recently discovered stepbible and am hugely grateful for it! So thank you for everyone's time and effort spent building such a helpful tool.

Whilst browsing I noticed a few "little" things that could do with fixing:

• The passage options icons padding need fixing
  
• Some alignment issues, the button text is sitting a little low and the button should be vertically aligned with the passage title
  
• Some of the formatting is confusing: alternate meanings for a word appearing on the same line
  

Then I had some more general UX ideas. For example: A full width panel has no max width. So the passage text spans the width of the display which isn't great for readability. Something like 30-50em might be more suitable.

So I did an initial look around and I can see that the way the frontend was built is quite dated. So before I start sending PRs through I wanted to see if there was appetite to build a new frontend for step, perhaps following a similar approach to stepmobile?

I don't want to step on anyones toes and know a new frontend can require a lot of time but I didn't want to start changing things without first asking.

Thanks for your help

[patricksptang]

Hello David, Thanks for pointing out the issues. I am one of the volunteers of STEPBible. I will fix the alignment of the "Summary" button. I don't fully understand the issue with the padding of the options icon. My lack of understanding is due to my lack of experience and skills in UX. I was a programmer for 7 years in the 1980's. For the last 30 years in my career, I was a manager and did not program anything. About four years ago I resumed programming and volunteered for STEPBible. I agree that the frontend is dated, but I am not the right person to lead a UI upgrade effort. In addition, there are other STEPBible priorities and I have limited time to volunteer on STEPBible. We have another volunteer who has a much better UX background. That volunteer has been busy outside of STEPBible. I will forward your message to him. For your last comment on meaning and alternative meaning, I will forward it to another person who knows more about the lexicon. Blessings, Patrick

…

On Tue, Mar 21, 2023 at 12:38 PM David Normington ***@***.***> wrote: Hi there, I've only recently discovered stepbible and am hugely grateful for it! So thank you for everyone's time and effort spent building such a helpful tool. Whilst browsing I noticed a few "little" things that could do with fixing: - The passage options icons padding need fixing [image: Screen Shot 2023-03-21 at 19 13 40] <https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/881849/226717888-e69dbcd5-fe2a-44ee-b4f4-6cadc2b1d579.png> - Some alignment issues, the button text is sitting a little low and the button should be vertically aligned with the passage title [image: Screen Shot 2023-03-21 at 19 14 02] <https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/881849/226717976-8780b7cf-a438-4bec-9712-98405512d455.png> - Some of the formatting is confusing: alternate meanings for a word appearing on the same line [image: Screen Shot 2023-03-21 at 19 15 56] <https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/881849/226717977-095fa7f7-ff53-42da-9558-c36ec147f449.png> Then I had some more general UX ideas. For example: A full width panel has no max width. So the passage text spans the width of the display which isn't great for readability. Something like 30-50em might be more suitable. So I did an initial look around and I can see that the way the frontend was built is quite dated. So before I start sending PRs through I wanted to see if there was appetite to build a new frontend for step, perhaps following a similar approach to stepmobile? I don't want to step on anyones toes and know a new frontend can require a lot of time but I didn't want to start changing things without first asking. Thanks for your help — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#133>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIWFN2TBPNDNRT3356V7NLDW5H7R5ANCNFSM6AAAAAAWC4YSTU> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[davidnormo]

Thanks Patrick 👍

The padding issue with the icons is when hovering on one the icon is not horizontally aligned within the darker grey div. It's only a little thing but it's the little things that contribute to the final "polish" of the site. The issues mentioned the formatting of word meanings is probably the highest priority so thanks for forwarding that on - I think having each meaning on a separate line makes it clear that each one is distinct.

A little about me: I am a software engineer based in London, UK. I've been working on website development, predominately frontend but often full-stack, for the last 16 years. I'm familiar with jQuery/Backbone sites but haven't worked on one for ~8 years. The stack I work on currently is React/Redux in the frontend with Node.js and Python backend services. I've worked on Java before but not for a very long time.

To paint the picture a bit more why we could consider rebuilding the front end:

1. To modernise the stack - tooling and practises have moved on, making maintenance easier and help to avoid bugs.
2. For the sake of longevity - there will be more developers now that are familiar with a newer stack which increases the chances of people contributing fixes and enhancements.
3. A chance to re-evaluate the site's UX - while using the site I found small bits that needed a bit of attention (mentioned above) and others that could be reconsidered (e.g. navigating between passage)

I'd love to contribute and it sounds like my experience would be a helpful addition to the group. Is there a formal membership process I can complete?

God bless

[patricksptang]

Hello David, I am copying this email to David Instone-Brewer, Kevin and Dan. David created the lexicon (definitions), Kevn is our lead in UX and Dan created the STEPBible mobile app. I am located around the San Francisco, California area. I retired from my corporate job a few years ago, but I am now a full time instructor teaching Information Technology to underprivileged young adults and helping them to find internships. I have minimal experience with React and Node.js and I am open to that and other technologies. I love programming, but I don't have the experience and a detail oriented eye for UX work. The STEPBible stack is dated (e.g.: old versions of JQuery/Backbone). Most of STEPBible software development was done around ten years ago by a gentleman who has not volunteered for a few years. I agree with all your points. I am concerned about longevity also. About 3.5 years ago, a new version of the Chrome browser caused our Javascript code to run into an infinite loop. The only way to avoid the loop was to remove a legitimate feature/Javascript code. Fortunately, the subsequent versions of Chrome browsers do not have that issue and we could restore our legitimate feature/code. I think the Chrome QA team has less or no testing with the old stacks. I suspect the problem can get worse over time. The STEPBible mobile app on iPhone and Android is developed in React Native. We have talked about ideas to share code between the website and the mobile app, but the two code bases are totally separate. We don't know if that is feasible to share code. STEPBible is registered as a Charity in the UK and we have membership. When our bank and Paypal accounts are set up, we will collect a $1 membership fee. I think formal membership is not important yet. TO: David Normington, David Instone-Brewer, Dan and Kevin: What do you think? Should we have an introductory meeting online? Blessings, Patrick

…

On Sat, Mar 25, 2023 at 3:48 AM David Normington ***@***.***> wrote: Thanks Patrick 👍 The padding issue with the icons is when hovering on one the icon is not horizontally aligned within the darker grey div. It's only a little thing but it's the little things that contribute to the final "polish" of the site. The issues mentioned the formatting of word meanings is probably the highest priority so thanks for forwarding that on - I think having each meaning on a separate line makes it clear that each one is distinct. A little about me: I am a software engineer based in London, UK. I've been working on website development, predominately frontend but often full-stack, for the last 16 years. I'm familiar with jQuery/Backbone sites but haven't worked on one for ~8 years. The stack I work on currently is React/Redux in the frontend with Node.js and Python backend services. I've worked on Java before but not for a very long time. To paint the picture a bit more why we could consider rebuilding the front end: 1. To modernise the stack - tooling and practises have moved on, making maintenance easier and help to avoid bugs. 2. For the sake of longevity - there will be more developers now that are familiar with a newer stack which increases the chances of people contributing fixes and enhancements. 3. A chance to re-evaluate the site's UX - while using the site I found small bits that needed a bit of attention (mentioned above) and others that could be reconsidered (e.g. navigating between passage) I'd love to contribute and it sounds like my experience would be a helpful addition to the group. Is there a formal membership process I can complete? God bless — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#133 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIWFN2W4B4FAUJR3O7JRXETW53EPPANCNFSM6AAAAAAWC4YSTU> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[patricksptang]

I'd love to meet up - count me in. I won't have anything useful to say about programming, but I might bring a bit of historic knowledge. *David IB* On Sat, Mar 25, 2023 at 1:41 PM Patrick Tang ***@***.***> wrote:

…

Hello David, I am copying this email to David Instone-Brewer, Kevin and Dan. David created the lexicon (definitions), Kevn is our lead in UX and Dan created the STEPBible mobile app. I am located around the San Francisco, California area. I retired from my corporate job a few years ago, but I am now a full time instructor teaching Information Technology to underprivileged young adults and helping them to find internships. I have minimal experience with React and Node.js and I am open to that and other technologies. I love programming, but I don't have the experience and a detail oriented eye for UX work. The STEPBible stack is dated (e.g.: old versions of JQuery/Backbone). Most of STEPBible software development was done around ten years ago by a gentleman who has not volunteered for a few years. I agree with all your points. I am concerned about longevity also. About 3.5 years ago, a new version of the Chrome browser caused our Javascript code to run into an infinite loop. The only way to avoid the loop was to remove a legitimate feature/Javascript code. Fortunately, the subsequent versions of Chrome browsers do not have that issue and we could restore our legitimate feature/code. I think the Chrome QA team has less or no testing with the old stacks. I suspect the problem can get worse over time. The STEPBible mobile app on iPhone and Android is developed in React Native. We have talked about ideas to share code between the website and the mobile app, but the two code bases are totally separate. We don't know if that is feasible to share code. STEPBible is registered as a Charity in the UK and we have membership. When our bank and Paypal accounts are set up, we will collect a $1 membership fee. I think formal membership is not important yet. TO: David Normington, David Instone-Brewer, Dan and Kevin: What do you think? Should we have an introductory meeting online? Blessings, Patrick On Sat, Mar 25, 2023 at 3:48 AM David Normington ***@***.***> wrote: > Thanks Patrick 👍 > > The padding issue with the icons is when hovering on one the icon is not > horizontally aligned within the darker grey div. It's only a little thing > but it's the little things that contribute to the final "polish" of the > site. The issues mentioned the formatting of word meanings is probably the > highest priority so thanks for forwarding that on - I think having each > meaning on a separate line makes it clear that each one is distinct. > > A little about me: I am a software engineer based in London, UK. I've > been working on website development, predominately frontend but often > full-stack, for the last 16 years. I'm familiar with jQuery/Backbone sites > but haven't worked on one for ~8 years. The stack I work on currently is > React/Redux in the frontend with Node.js and Python backend services. I've > worked on Java before but not for a very long time. > > To paint the picture a bit more why we could consider rebuilding the > front end: > > 1. To modernise the stack - tooling and practises have moved on, > making maintenance easier and help to avoid bugs. > 2. For the sake of longevity - there will be more developers now that > are familiar with a newer stack which increases the chances of people > contributing fixes and enhancements. > 3. A chance to re-evaluate the site's UX - while using the site I > found small bits that needed a bit of attention (mentioned above) and > others that could be reconsidered (e.g. navigating between passage) > > I'd love to contribute and it sounds like my experience would be a > helpful addition to the group. Is there a formal membership process I can > complete? > > God bless > > — > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > <#133 (comment)>, > or unsubscribe > <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIWFN2W4B4FAUJR3O7JRXETW53EPPANCNFSM6AAAAAAWC4YSTU> > . > You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: > ***@***.***> >

[davidnormo]

Yep that sounds good 👍

[patricksptang]

To: David Normington and Kevin: It would be great to meet. We need David Normington, Kevin and me to be in the meeting. Are you available on April 7th at 11:30 Pacific time? Below is a link which will show the time in your time zone. https://everytimezone.com/s/1144c635 If that time does not work, please propose another time. Thanks, Patrick

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On Sun, Mar 26, 2023 at 12:25 AM David Normington ***@***.***> wrote: Yep that sounds good 👍 — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#133 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIWFN2WNWRC7MJ4XFHR23UTW574PLANCNFSM6AAAAAAWC4YSTU> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[patricksptang]

I'm unavailable on the 7th. What about Monday the 3rd at the same time? Kevin On Wed, Mar 29, 2023 at 4:14 PM Patrick Tang ***@***.***> wrote:

…

To: David Normington and Kevin: It would be great to meet. We need David Normington, Kevin and me to be in the meeting. Are you available on April 7th at 11:30 Pacific time? Below is a link which will show the time in your time zone. https://everytimezone.com/s/1144c635 If that time does not work, please propose another time. Thanks, Patrick On Sun, Mar 26, 2023 at 12:25 AM David Normington < ***@***.***> wrote: > Yep that sounds good 👍 > > — > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > <#133 (comment)>, > or unsubscribe > <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIWFN2WNWRC7MJ4XFHR23UTW574PLANCNFSM6AAAAAAWC4YSTU> > . > You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: > ***@***.***> >

[davidnormo]

I can't do the 3rd unfortunately and actually that time of day is difficult for me because of putting the kids to bed. It's a shame because our timezones don't have a lot of overlap.

I wonder instead if you who are in the pacific timezone could have a call and record it to talk through some of the history of stebbible, process, etc? (I can send over some specific questions I have)

I've been working on some ideas both UX and technical that I can show you in response and answer any questions you have.

[patricksptang]

David, Can you propose a time that works for you? For example, my 6 AM (London afternoon) or midnight (London morning) can work for me. Thanks, Patrick

…

On Fri, Mar 31, 2023 at 11:26 PM David Normington ***@***.***> wrote: I can't do the 3rd unfortunately and actually that time of day is difficult for me because of putting the kids to bed. It's a shame because our timezones don't have a lot of overlap. I wonder instead if you who are in the pacific timezone could have a call and record it to talk through some of the history of stebbible, process, etc? (I can send over some specific questions I have) I've been working on some ideas both UX and technical that I can show you in response and answer any questions you have. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#133 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIWFN2TS3LKOP5NYXH3JSPLW67DAHANCNFSM6AAAAAAWC4YSTU> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[davidnormo]

I can do 5th or 6th at 6-6:30am PDT or sometime between 7-9am PDT

I can find more times next week if those don't work for you

[patricksptang]

Kevin and David Instone-Brewer, Are you available on April 6 at 8:30 Pacific Time? Patrick

…

On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 10:54 AM David Normington ***@***.***> wrote: I can do 5th or 6th at 6-6:30am PDT or sometime between 7-9am PDT I can find more times next week if those don't work for you — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#133 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIWFN2SE57DQRAFSB3IHWFTW7RN7HANCNFSM6AAAAAAWC4YSTU> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[patricksptang]

Sorry I'm not available until next week

…

On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 2:53 PM Patrick Tang ***@***.***> wrote: Kevin and David Instone-Brewer, Are you available on April 6 at 8:30 Pacific Time? Patrick On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 10:54 AM David Normington ***@***.***> wrote: > I can do 5th or 6th at 6-6:30am PDT or sometime between 7-9am PDT > > I can find more times next week if those don't work for you > > — > Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub > <#133 (comment)>, > or unsubscribe > <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIWFN2SE57DQRAFSB3IHWFTW7RN7HANCNFSM6AAAAAAWC4YSTU> > . > You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: > ***@***.***> >

[patricksptang]

I am available next week. I don't have work on Friday and I can meet as early as 6 AM Pacific Time, but 7 AM or later would be better. . On other days, I start working at 7 AM so I can meet at 6 AM.

…

On Wed, Apr 5, 2023 at 1:50 PM Kevin Weeks ***@***.***> wrote: Sorry I'm not available until next week On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 2:53 PM Patrick Tang ***@***.***> wrote: > Kevin and David Instone-Brewer, > > Are you available on April 6 at 8:30 Pacific Time? > > Patrick > > On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 10:54 AM David Normington < > ***@***.***> wrote: > >> I can do 5th or 6th at 6-6:30am PDT or sometime between 7-9am PDT >> >> I can find more times next week if those don't work for you >> >> — >> Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub >> <#133 (comment)>, >> or unsubscribe >> <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIWFN2SE57DQRAFSB3IHWFTW7RN7HANCNFSM6AAAAAAWC4YSTU> >> . >> You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: >> ***@***.***> >> >

[davidnormo]

Hi all, I hope you are all finding rest today and reflecting on our Lord's amazing sacrifice.

I've had a moment to reflect and don't think I should be committing to helping here at the moment. Hopefully that will change in the future and I'll certainly be keeping an eye on these repositories - but I think I need to take a step back at this point. So there's no need to schedule a call for now

Sorry for any confusion caused.

God bless and happy Easter!