[racket] Best way to propose changes to Scribble CSS files

From: Robby Findler (robby at eecs.northwestern.edu)
Date: Sat Nov 9 08:44:58 EST 2013

I like it! Making the window smaller and see the font shrink is especially
amazing.

A technical question: in the docs for contract-out (
http://mbutterick.github.io/racket-doc-redo/doc/reference/attaching-contracts-to-values.html),
I see that the code oversteps its box in the new version, but not the old.
Is that something we'd have to fix by editing the docs to make the lines
have fewer chars in them?

Also, the margin comment in the "Set..." section here
http://mbutterick.github.io/racket-doc-redo/doc/quick/index.html seems to
have moved into the middle of the page.

Robby


On Sat, Nov 9, 2013 at 1:12 AM, Matthew Butterick <mb.list.acct at gmail.com>wrote:

> Rather than edit the Scribble CSS files in the main Racket repo, I decided
> it would be more efficient to make a new repo to act as a prototype (and
> serve it via github pages). That way, it's easier for others to try the new
> CSS and report problems & suggestions. Once the changes look good, I can
> put them into a pull request for the main repo.
>
> What I did is grab part of the docs from the built version of 5.90.0.9 and
> dropped that in the prototype repo. Then I edited the CSS files.
>
> The prototype repo is here:
>
> https://github.com/mbutterick/racket-doc-redo/tree/gh-pages
>
> To preview the pages in a web browser, start here:
>
> http://mbutterick.github.io/racket-doc-redo/doc/index.html
>
> This is my first attempt at using github pages, so if there's breakage,
> blame me.
>
> As for the design changes, there's more refinement and nitpickery to come,
> but the basic idea is intact, and good enough to criticize. Mostly I've
> aimed to simplify and update the layout, while keeping the character of the
> documentation intact. I've also tried to address one key functional
> shortcoming of the current CSS: its fixed width.
>
> And yes, it is somewhat less colorful overall, though not because I oppose
> "the colors of the rainbow" ;) Rather, I just think the color has better
> effect when it's used sparingly. Like a day spa for the mind.
>
> Matthew Butterick
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 3:41 PM, Robby Findler <
> robby at eecs.northwestern.edu> wrote:
>
>> I've just finished reading your (beautiful!) book and am excitedly
>> looking forward to what you come up with. Do let us know if you get stuck
>> anywhere. (And yes: we apparently like all the colors of the rainbow more
>> than you seem to; hopefully you won't hold that against us :).
>>
>> Robby
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 11, 2013 at 5:35 PM, Matthew Butterick <
>> mb.list.acct at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Consistent with my pledge at RacketCon<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20GGVNBykaw&list=PLXr4KViVC0qLyXpinlARzSDWaQTCzaGw3&index=7>, I’ve
>>> been working on some potential improvements to the default CSS files used
>>> by Scribble for Racket documentation. Before I get too far I just want to
>>> make sure I’m going about it the right way.
>>>
>>> I've read the tutorials by Joe Politz<http://blog.racket-lang.org/2012/11/tutorial-contributing-to-racket.html>and Greg
>>> Hendershott<http://www.greghendershott.com/2013/04/a-guide-for-infrequent-contributors-to-racket.html>about how to contribute to Racket via Github. I made a fresh fork of
>>> plt/racket yesterday and built it from source. But the Scribble CSS files
>>> are handled a little differently than others.
>>>
>>> I see that the documentation gets built into racket/racket/doc/,
>>> including the CSS files. So if I edit the files in that directory, I can
>>> see the CSS changes reflected in the docs. However, the whole doc directory
>>> is ignored in the git repo<https://github.com/plt/racket/blob/master/racket/.gitignore>.
>>> And I need to edit files that git can see.
>>>
>>> So I found the original home of the CSS files in
>>> racket/pkgs/scribble-pkgs/scribble-lib/scribble/<https://github.com/plt/racket/tree/master/pkgs/scribble-pkgs/scribble-lib/scribble>.
>>> If I update these files, then git sees them. But the changes aren't
>>> reflected in the live documentation.
>>>
>>> My workaround has just been to replace the copies in racket/racket/doc
>>> with symlinks to the files in scribble-pkgs. That way, as I update the CSS
>>> in scribble-pkgs, git can see the updates, but they're also reflected in
>>> the live docs. (These symlinks will get wiped out next time I rebuild from
>>> source, but that's the price of progress.)
>>>
>>>
>>> 1) What's the best way to propose Scribble CSS updates? Should I
>>> assemble a pull request for
>>> racket/pkgs/scribble-pkgs/scribble-lib/scribble<https://github.com/plt/racket/tree/master/pkgs/scribble-pkgs/scribble-lib/scribble>/
>>> ?
>>>
>>> 2) Is there a better way of connecting the CSS file in scribble-pkgs to
>>> the actual CSS file used by the documentation? (i.e., other than my symlink
>>> technique).
>>>
>>> 3) Anyone who wants to try out the new Scribble CSS files or contribute
>>> to the update will have the same problem, however. I'm not sure how to
>>> avoid this given that Scribble's HTML rendering policy<http://docs.racket-lang.org/scribble/running.html>is to bring the CSS files along for the ride and eliminate dependency on
>>> the source directory. OTOH, it's a drag to have to rebuild the docs just to
>>> see the effect of a few CSS files.
>>>
>>> 4) For now I'm just working with the CSS, and not delving into the
>>> Scribble HTML renderer, on the idea that changing fewer files is better,
>>> and maintaining compatibility with existing doc sources is essential. That
>>> said, there are some occasional defects in the Scribble HTML output that
>>> puts things out of reach of CSS (e.g., I've found styling hard-coded into
>>> the HTML in places).
>>>
>>>
>>> Matthew Butterick
>>>
>>> ____________________
>>>   Racket Users list:
>>>   http://lists.racket-lang.org/users
>>>
>>>
>>
>
> ____________________
>   Racket Users list:
>   http://lists.racket-lang.org/users
>
>
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