Notice anything different? That's right, developerWorks is unveiling a new article design. The new design integrates related developerWorks and community-generated content and features in a dynamic and context-sensitive manner. Currently, only a select few articles sport the new look, but within the next few months, we hope to extend this look to all new articles. But first, we want to know what you think—what's good, what other areas should we consider, and so on. We at developerWorks will continue to make improvements based on your feedback, and soon you'll see a new and improved design across every new article on the site.
The new design includes quite a few new features, as well as enhancements to existing features. This article explains how to use them to interact with developerWorks content and users on a whole new level. After you've had the preview, let us know if we hit the mark.
Just open any beta article, and immediately you'll notice the visual differences. Not only has developerWorks adopted the new streamlined graphical interface of IBM.com, we entirely reformatted the overall layout of the page, and took the design a step further by adding new features that help you customize your experience. Figure 1 shows the current (non-beta) design of developerWorks articles.
Figure 1. The current article design
Compare that to the new design shown in this article. We aimed for a cleaner look, with all the added resources in a new easy-to-find format. You now have access to the most up-to-date resources on developerWorks without ever leaving this page.
You might notice that a lot has changed at the top of the article. In addition to the standard components that you're used to seeing, such as title, subtitle, and author information, several new components give you the ability to interact with developerWorks directly within the article, including inline commenting, a tally of how many other users have viewed the article (activity), and the opportunity to rate the article.
Additionally, if you want to learn more about the author without scrolling to the bottom of the page, roll your cursor over the author name to see the author's biography—it's a quick, at-a-glance summary of the author's qualifications and experience. The following sections give an up-close look at these new, interactive features.
Figure 2. Article summary area
Now, let's take a closer look at the new components.
Now you can add your own comments and thoughts about a particular article for everyone to view. Did the article provide the answer you needed? Do you still have a question? Type it in the Comments field, and perhaps another user will have the answer you're looking for.
The commenting feature in the article summary at the top of the page gives you the number of comments made about the article. Click the link, and jump directly to the start of the inline commenting form at the bottom of the article. Just be sure to sign in to developerWorks, and you're on your way to adding your own comments, asking questions, making suggestions, or just viewing what others have said. You'll never have to leave the article to tell developerWorks and everyone else what you think about the article or topic.
These comments are also monitored by the developerWorks editing team. So, be sure to enter comments about what you find useful or what you would like to see more of on the topic or in the series.
Ever want to know if an article has been popular among other users? Or, whether it's hot off the press, and you're the first person to check it out? You can now find this information in the Activity field of the article summary section. Check here to see the number of times the article was viewed by other developerWorks readers. You might be one of many to view an article, or the very first (besides our editors, of course!).
You may have immediately noticed the row of stars in the article summary area. Just as you now have the ability to post inline comments within the articles, you can also rate the article based on how well it meets your needs. It's very simple. We've always valued and appreciated you rating our articles, and now we want to share those results with you.
The stars represent the average rating of the article. To add your rating, just click the star that corresponds to your vote. Five means the article met all your expectations—you really liked it; one star means you didn't like the article at all. Your rating is indicated with blue stars that quickly fade back to the average rating. Just move your cursor over the stars at any time to display your rating again. And, be sure to follow-up your rating with a comment so we know just what you are looking for in every article.
Quite possibly the most important feature within the new design is our Feedback link. We want to know what you think of the new look, so within the beta articles, we have given you two ways to provide feedback: a survey and a forum. Click the Give us feedback link to either complete a private survey that comes directly to us or link to a forum to discuss the new design with other users. Of course, we'll monitor your input to the forum as well.
If you choose to take the survey, you'll be asked for your opinion on items such as the page design and layout, the readability of the content, navigation, the new features and functions, and how you compare the old design with the new design. You can submit the survey as many times as you like, so don't worry if you submit it without providing all your feedback. Just submit a new survey or visit the feedback forum. In the forum, you can enter a new suggestion you might have, or reply to someone else's suggestion. developerWorks welcomes all your comments on the new article look and hopes that you'll take the time to give us your thoughts.
And, of course, you can always add a comment right at the bottom of this article!
Figure 3. Give us your comments
Related content display from developerWorks search and Krugle
If you found a developerWorks article through a search engine results page (such as Google, Yahoo, IBM.com, or a developerWorks search), you get the added feature of seeing related content and source code based on the search string you entered. Suppose you searched Google for the term "javafx," and from this search you select a developerWorks article. In the middle of the page, just above the body of the article, you'll see a module that is automatically populated with other developerWorks articles and tutorials that match the "javafx" keyword. No need to return to your search results page for more relevant developerWorks content, as we've aggregated all of it for you!
How do we do this? developerWorks has identified—with the help of indexing by Krugle (see Resources)—code samples related to the same search string, in this case "javafx." For developerWorks, Krugle has indexed more than 1,400 articles, comprising 29,000 source code files, which equates to more than 4 million lines of code! The index includes code in more than 35 languages including C, XML, and Java™ languages! That's powerful!
Figure 4. Related content/source code
You may be glad to know we haven't changed the trusted Resources section at the bottom of every developerWorks article. We've left intact most of what you've come to expect, displaying the resource links most related to the subject of the article and compiled by the subject matter experts themselves—our authors. Scroll down farther and you'll still find the author's biography as well as trademark information. Some things will never change!
In this updated design, the right navigation takes on a whole new look and meaning. It's full of related content and resources to help you find exactly what you're looking for. Or, if you've already found your answer within the article, use these extra resources to make your experience even richer. This section describes the useful information you'll find.
The Table of contents has moved from the left side of the page to the right. But, it still gives you a quick overview of the main topics within the article, and when you select a main heading, you jump right to where you need to be.
Figure 5. Table of contents
After you've read the article, you might find yourself asking, "Where do I go next?" The Next steps module gives you the direction you need. It identifies the best webcasts to listen to, demos to watch, tech briefings to attend, downloads to check out, products to try, or other articles and tutorials that can expand your depth of knowledge. The best part is that this module is populated automatically, so you're sure to find the latest, most up-to-date information. Additionally, developerWorks is constantly developing new features to provide you with the options that are most relevant to you.
Figure 6. Next steps module
Farther down the page is related community content. We have lots of information to show you, so we thought it best to roll it all up into a single, accordian-style widget. Just click on the community asset you want to view (forums, blogs, spaces, wikis, or code exchange), and the list automatically expands. All links are predetermined to be the most relevant to the topic of the article you are viewing, and each time the article is viewed, these links are automatically refreshed with the most up-to-date content. No extra searching or clicking involved. You can now click on relevant community content from within the article.
This is the section that takes you right where you need to be to start collaborating with others. Make sure you expand all the sections so you don't miss a single opportunity to hear what others are saying in our community.
Figure 8. Related community content
Suppose this article is just one of many that you want to read about a particular IBM product or technology, such as WebSphere® or XML. Not to worry, we now bring the most popular content right to you so you can dig as deep as you want to within the same broader subject matter. developerWorks identifies the zone or product page that you originated from—based on the URL string—and also looks at the broader zone or product for the particular article you are viewing, and pulls together everything you'll want to check out. This module offers links to technology- or product-related content including:
- "New to" information
- Downloads and products
- Open source projects
- Standards
- Technical libraries
- Training and events
This area differs from the Related community content because it contains more traditional, technical content. So there are options for whatever type of user you are and whatever type of content you are looking for.
Figure 9. Dig deeper content
You might notice that some of the important page options have moved to the bottom of the article. What's nice about this is that you'll now find the footer information to be the same across all of developerWorks and IBM.com. So don't forget to print the article, e-mail it to a friend, or share it with others on Digg and Del.icio.us.
Figure 10. Footer
In this article, you saw an overview of the proposed design changes for developerWorks articles. For this initial beta release, developerWorks looks to you to provide feedback on the design and tell us what you like and don't like. To provide feedback, click the Give us feedback link, or enter a comment on this article. We'll be waiting!
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Jill Amaya is an advisory software engineer for IBM developerWorks. With a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications from the University of South Florida, she began her career as an editorial assistant before being hired by IBM as a technical writer for the Retail Store Solutions division, where she wrote and edited documentation for the 4690 Operating System. Later moving to developerWorks, she has worked as the Web editor for various technical zones including the wireless technology and autonomic computing zones as well as editing the main developerWorks Web page. When not making the words sparkle, Jill leads an incredibly busy life in North Carolina with one husband, two children, and three cats.
Ami Dewar is the developerWorks advanced design team lead. Advanced design is a hybrid team of designers, developers, and architects working to keep developerWorks on the cutting edge. Ami, formally the lead graphic designer, has been a designer with IBM for six years, creating over 1200 feature graphics and 8000 technical illustrations.
