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9 Comments

Updated design for my static site generator's homepage

I updated the design of https://mkws.sh, I added some minor documentation on the homepage also removed some colors. What do you think?

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    Hey @adriangrigore,

    I'm sharing this as a real reaction, not trying to be insulting.

    My first reaction was to refresh the page and then check DevTools for a missing stylesheet.

    I love brutalist design but the current flow and default browser styles make it feel a little off.

    I have a download button and two deploy buttons at the very top, before I even have an idea of what mkws is.

    For the copy, it's nice that you kept it lean but the current copy on the home page feels like I stepped into the middle of a conversation that was already underway without me.

    For example, you tell me that I can make more *.upphtml files to make additional pages but I have no idea what a .upphtml file is yet. I don't know what that is until I get into the docs. Even in the docs, I have to infer what a .upphtml file is.

    A couple more things with the copy, I would shy away from words like "Efficient", "Simple" and "Fast" unless you can substantiate them.

    This is efficient to you because you are familiar with sh. I know lots of developers who build sites who never interact with sh. They would lose efficiency because they have to get familiar with that first.

    That also applies to "Simple".

    If you want to stress how "Blazing Fast" mkws is, put up a benchmark of some sort. Blazing fast as compared to what? As a developer, you know that when people make claims about languages, frameworks, etc, they often have to back those claims up to win people over.

    I think you do have a nice niche here. There are developers out there who would use this to get a site live without all of the other "junk" that you have to learn (CSS, SASS, Webpack, PostCSS, the list goes on...).

    I'd write for their perspective and make it unique to them. For example, a potential headline could be:

    "Create static sites without leaving your terminal"

    That speaks to who might use this and tells them exactly what to expect from mkws.

    Overall, I think some focused copy and information organization would help get the idea across.

    Good luck!

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      Copy and design are not easy for me, I'll have to admit, thanks!

      Except for the default white, what default browser styles are you encountering? Can you post a screenshot of your rendering.

      The idea for the download button at the top is to get an updated version for users that are already familiar with the project.

      I agree I made some assumptions about what people understand about sh, hence the stepping into the middle of conversation feeling.

      I guess I could expand the main code block into a series of steps in order to provide more detailed explanations. (e.g. what an .upphtml files is).

      Also, I agree with backing up the claims.

      Indeed, the idea is to get a website up with less junk, CSS is a go and you can even script it with sh.

      Nice idea with the headline, I'll take that into account.

      Thanks for the feedback again!

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        What do you think of these changes? https://mkws.sh

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    This looks like something extremely niche, other than that, good job it's efficiently doing its job!

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      Thanks, the idea is to have a way to effortlessly get a something online as fast as possible.

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        It's not that niche as it also targets JavaScript developers.

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          most js devs will just use a github pages template

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            Or a JS static site generator. I personally feel tired of the JS ecosystem. I just implemented a minimal templating system in order to get a static website up ASAP with no bloat and minimal dependencies.

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