Adding some bling to the milestones page

NBtarheel_33 · 2012-12-01, 13:03

The lists of major and minor milestones at http://www.mersenne.org/report_milestones/ have become somewhat unwieldy over the years. I had an idea that placing the milestones on a timeline and replacing the long lists with an image of or link to the timeline might (1) improve the look and feel of the GIMPS site and (2) depict our achievements in a more concise manner to both GIMPS users and visitors alike, and in turn, foster both new and continued interest in our project. To this end, I have designed a timeline of the milestones that are presently reported, and I have attached a PNG image (within a ZIP, due to the forum's size limitation on image attachments) of the timeline to this post. I would love to hear what everyone thinks, and also if there are any events/milestones that should be added to the timeline. If there are "thumbs-up" from folks here in this forum, I will go ahead and suggest the idea to George. Thanks for your consideration!

ET_ · 2012-12-01, 13:15

I like the idea, but is it worth it?

I'd prefer a vertical scrollable page... but it would necessarily coincide to the actual list.
Also, we should have someone with graphic skills to update the graph in a timely manner.
I don't like too much the choice of colors (but that's only me).

Luigi

aketilander · 2012-12-01, 14:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by NBtarheel_33

If there are "thumbs-up" from folks here in this forum, I will go ahead and suggest the idea to George. Thanks for your consideration!

I think the timeline is very nice. Well done!

I am thinking though that it would be a good idea to keep the text-based report as well since this is a primary source for information which cannot be found elswhere. If we just have the timeline, things like the exact date may be lost.

Overall I am very positive to the idea!

Uncwilly · 2012-12-01, 20:21

I would suggest that the one color only represents one thing. You have it a little mixed. And also keep the types of events on the same side of the line.

My suggestions are:

Red or green: discovery of a new prime (could even reach back past the start of GIMPS). These should be above the line and on the top level or far left.
Yellow: First time minimums. Above the line and next to the line or just to the left.
Green or red (currently blue): Prime is proven to be Mxx. Below or right of and adjacent to the line. (The location can be swapped with the one below.)
Blue: Double check minimums. Bottom or to the far right of the line.

Batalov · 2012-12-01, 20:40

There exist some design tricks that would help it fit on a typical page. (Right now it goes off for more than a screen to the right and cannot be easily seen at once; or else, if it scaled down it is unreadable. And forget about viewing this page on an iPhone, apparently.) There are probably some web 2.0 designers around who could make reasonable baloon blowouts when you mouse over or use some other latest technology. AJAX-based or what not. (there's a whole load of ugly stuff in such coding - to satisfy most browsers, including tablets, but all in all it is a solvable problem: just look at google maps. "Sort of works" everywhere. ;-)

As the basis, I like it!

LaurV · 2012-12-02, 10:10

This is scary! No green balloons on the right side!

NBtarheel_33 · 2012-12-02, 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET_

I like the idea, but is it worth it?

I'd prefer a vertical scrollable page... but it would necessarily coincide to the actual list.
Also, we should have someone with graphic skills to update the graph in a timely manner.
I don't like too much the choice of colors (but that's only me).

Luigi

I have nothing against going vertical. I'm sure that the software (SmartDraw) of which I made use would admit a vertical arrangement. What do others think of vertical vs. horizontal?

I would be willing to maintain the list and add balloons/dots/bullets/what-have-you as appropriate. It would be a learning process, but I think the result would improve over time. We could also form a "committee" (dirty word?) to work on this project.

Choice of colors is flexible, though bright, primary colors seemed like a wise choice. I basically thought of the balloons as (North American) highway signs - yellow indicating a first LL minimum, blue indicating a DC minimum or proof of M#, green indicating a new prime, and orange indicating the start of the project. I agree that we could perhaps include earlier (pre-GIMPS) discoveries, and I thought that it might be an idea to change the color for proof of M# to red, indicating "the end of the line for a particular prime" (proving the M# is basically the last thing that we do with a Mersenne prime before relegating it to the history books).

NBtarheel_33 · 2012-12-03, 10:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by aketilander

I think the timeline is very nice. Well done!

I am thinking though that it would be a good idea to keep the text-based report as well since this is a primary source for information which cannot be found elswhere. If we just have the timeline, things like the exact date may be lost.

Overall I am very positive to the idea!

Thanks. I agree that the existing information should either be maintained separately, or actual dates should be added somehow to the balloons. As it stands now, that level of precision is lost, as the timeline is best suited to showing monthly or quarterly intervals, given its length.

NBtarheel_33 · 2012-12-03, 10:21

Quote: