RE: Version 13 documentation layout is harder to read than version 12

I have two observations:

1. I do have a wide monitor, so I have not been as aware of the version 12 documentation issues. I see that the way scaling was implemented in version 12 on a small screen could be problematic, but it is still easier to read on a laptop screen than version 13. See screen shots:
* [cid:image001(dot)png(at)01D69648(dot)83625680]
* [Graphical user interface, text, application, email Description automatically generated]
2. Is there a middle ground?
* Version 12 had 6 columns, version 13 has one.
* Could we have fewer columns? What if we had 3 columns: One for operator or function, one for the details and description, and one for an example with the results.
* We could fix (or remove) the zoom that makes the text unreadable when the page is resized.
* The new approach uses just a small part of the screen width, when we really need to use more.

Niels

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us>
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2020 08:16
To: Tom Lane <tgl(at)sss(dot)pgh(dot)pa(dot)us>
Cc: Niels Andersen <niels(at)thinkiq(dot)com>; pgsql-docs(at)lists(dot)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Re: Version 13 documentation layout is harder to read than version 12

On Tue, Sep 29, 2020 at 09:52:31AM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:

> PG Doc comments form <noreply(at)postgresql(dot)org<mailto:noreply(at)postgresql(dot)org>> writes:

> > Compare:

> > * https://www.postgresql.org/docs/13/functions-json.html

> > * https://www.postgresql.org/docs/12/functions-json.html

>

> > I know it is just my opinion, but the version 12 layout is easier to

> > read than version 13.

>

> IMO, table 9.47 (JSON Processing Functions) is pretty much the poster

> child for why we had to redesign the table layout. In the old layout,

> it's close to unreadable in any normal-size browser window, despite

> wasting lots of whitespace and having large amounts of important info

> shuffled off into "Note" blocks. The new layout is far more adaptable

> to viewing windows that aren't full-screen-width; and the "Note" text

> has all been merged into the table, so that you don't have to scroll

> down and back to find all the info about a function.

>

> I'll concede that it's a bit of a shock at first if you are used to

> the old layout. But the developer community has been looking at this

> format for six months or so now, and I think people grew accustomed to

> it fairly quickly.

I think the issue is that the PG 12 format is easier to scan a single column, while the PG 13 format is easier to read.

--

Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us<mailto:bruce(at)momjian(dot)us>> https://momjian.us

EnterpriseDB https://enterprisedb.com

The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, Bruce Lee