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

Lovin' it. I am writing the draft of HtDP/2e in Scribble:

  http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/HtDP2e/index.html

and I have had several requests for the content menu to slide along in the left margin. 

I think it would be okay if searching remained at the top, and the content menu were sliding instead. I realize that some TOCs are (very) long so perhaps this is a (mechanically) bad idea too. 

Thanks! -- Matthias






On Nov 9, 2013, at 2:12 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, 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 and Greg Hendershott 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. 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/. 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/ ?
> 
> 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 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
> 
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