MacPorts webapp project updates

[Craig Treleaven]

> On Jul 12, 2020, at 2:55 PM, Arjun Salyan <arjun at macports.org> wrote:
> ...
> 
> "Splash screen" (upcoming)
> It was pointed out that our current port page (http://macports.silentfox.tech/port/cctools/ <http://macports.silentfox.tech/port/cctools/>) contains a lot of technical information which might not be useful for the general user. This reduces the odds of user acquisition. So, we plan to add a page with a focus on the software version and installation instructions. It will have a link to the existing page under "Details". Maintainers and advanced users will be able to by-pass this page (setting a cookie with the preferred page) and reach the details page directly. Existing links will be maintained in this process.
> 
> Feedback and suggestions would be very constructive.
> 

Thanks again for your attention to detail on this project.  I think that this webapp is going to be really useful.

Re the install instructions on the ‘Splash screen’, the suggestion to ‘sudo port install foo’ is correct in the vast majority of cases, but…

Where a port requires non-default variants for any of its dependencies, the above suggestion is not appropriate.  If the port uses the active_variants portgroup, this is most likely the reason.  If a naive user follows the suggested install instructions, they are going to experience a ‘failure’ and then need to take steps to fix it that are not immediately obvious.  If the port has a lot of dependencies, the failure happens LONG after the user started the install.  Very bad user experience.

In a similar vein, if the port uses the conflicts_build portgroup, it may ‘fail’ to install after a long period of installing deps.  It is unfortunate that we don’t alert users much earlier in the process.

Ideally, the summary page might help the user avoid such pitfalls.

After that, a couple of personal preferences.  On both the ‘Splash’ and detail views, the Description is initially truncated with a “More…” control.  I think this is vital information and the entire description should always be displayed.

Also, on the Detail screen, I think all the dependencies should always be listed.  It is a details screen so I would suggest that we shouldn’t have to click various controls to see the full details.

Someone else suggested that Variant Descriptions should be displayed and I agree with that.  Also the default variants.

Since we are displaying everything else, has consideration been given to displaying the port’s Notes, if any?

Many thanks,

Craig

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