Boxen oss homepage

[nrrrdcore]

WIP PR for Boxen's new home. This will carry over from #1.

This is where I'm at with writing the frontend code and throwing some styles against the metaphorical wall.

Talked with @jbarnette about things we want to illustrate in those assembly boxes:

1. Sanity (security, adult shit)
2. Environment/ Basics (dev tools, modern versioning)
3. Workflow (tools, tools, tools) Shit that doesn't happen in terminal
4. Yours (custom stuff you want done to your computers, capture this shit) Maybe a flag, hang your flag
5. Ask for it (brings down code, and dependencies, project specific workflow)
6. Maintenance (push out changes, updates, keep it perfect)

We might have to try to wrap these into 4 boxes, the page gets a bit too long with six at the size I'll want to illustrate them.

BUT I'll also be adding a bottom section like hubot.github.com's where we can throw text side-by-side with screenshots similar to:

[nrrrdcore]

@jbarnette @wfarr when we release Boxen, will people be able to download it straight from this page? Looking for a main call-to-action to throw beside viewing the project on GitHub.

[nrrrdcore]

[wfarr]

Lovin' it.

There's not really gonna be a download button. There's pretty much "Check out the template repository to get started" but that's about it, IMO.

[skalnik]

Looking rad so far :metal:

[nrrrdcore]

[wfarr]

Totally looking :boom::camel:

[nrrrdcore]

Now to put some life in this.

If Boxen were a real, physical product, what would it be?

Would it be a robot-cousin to Hubot? Seems like Robots are a natural extension of automation. But are there any others? And particularly are there any we could physically ship. And most importantly, something you could get on Amazon Prime.

I'd love to come up with a cool way to draw parallels to an actual, physical thing to explain what Boxen offers and/or its internals. And so @jeejkang can start illustrating some badass stuff.

T-minus 3 weeks to shippin'.

cc/ @jbarnette @wfarr

[wfarr]

IMO Boxen is like going Borg. You're technically sacrificing some humanity, sure, but you're getting all the badass, crazy robot-omation too.

[skalnik]

Any updates on this? I can't wait to ship boxen!

[nrrrdcore]

Starting talks with James Kang about illustrations.

But we'll be ready when Boxen is.

:heart:

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 13, 2012, at 9:46 AM, Mike Skalnik notifications@github.com wrote:

Any updates on this? I can't wait to ship boxen!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[wfarr]

We're at the point where I think we're calling it "good enough" on our end.

I'd like to ship a replacement for librarian-puppet, but it's just not feasible to block on that at this point since @rodjek, @jbarnette, and I are all tied up with a billion other things.

On Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 12:53 PM, Julie Ann Horvath wrote:

Starting talks with James Kang about illustrations.

But we'll be ready when Boxen is.

:heart:

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 13, 2012, at 9:46 AM, Mike Skalnik <notifications@github.com (mailto:notifications@github.com)> wrote:

Any updates on this? I can't wait to ship boxen!

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub (https://github.com/boxen/boxen.github.com/pull/2#issuecomment-10335652).

[nrrrdcore]

@wfarr cool co cool. James and I talked direction yesterday on the main page illustration. We were thinking about ways to illustrate the core features of Boxen and think we came up with a proper direction. We're going to model the illustration after something from the movie Small Soldiers. Accessories included.

And as if Boxen could literally get up and walk away....and then start a war. Robot-esque but in a different direction than Hubot.

Some of the Inspiration:

I'll be tidying up the ui and starting to work on the copy over the next week or so. @jeejkang Do you have a time estimation on the illustration stuff?

I'm gonna need mad screenshots. Preferably on a Retina laptop so I can just retina-ready them from the start. What features do you think you'll want to show off in the bottom buckets? @wfarr @jbarnette Also checkout the copy in that top box, since that space isn't going to be super flexible.

I would say we could probably ship next Friday if @jeejkang is ready by then.

:boat:

[jbarnette]

I love this.

On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 3:42 PM, Julie Ann Horvath <notifications@github.com

wrote:

@wfarr https://github.com/wfarr cool co cool. James and I talked direction yesterday on the main page illustration. We were thinking about ways to illustrate the core features of Boxen and think we came up with a proper direction. We're going to model the illustration after something from the movie Small Soldiers. Accessories included.

And as if Boxen could literally get up and walk away....and then start a war. Robot-esque but in a different direction than Hubot.

Some of the Inspiration:

https://a248.e.akamai.net/camo.github.com/363652af19201269d51aa04a4ec011fc8295a804/687474703a2f2f322e62702e626c6f6773706f742e636f6d2f2d49744a3350416c7871664d2f54345751485864773233492f41414141414141414164412f323161756b5649456e41632f73313630302f536d616c6c2b536f6c64696572732b424154544c452b4348414e47494e472b4152434845522b53555045522b524152452b494e2b424f582b48415342524f2b474f52474f4e495445532b2b654261795f323031322d30342d31315f30382d35382d35362e706e67

https://a248.e.akamai.net/camo.github.com/437b4aea232d612b18709e439d1947aaa9ffa864/687474703a2f2f7777772e616374696f6e746f79732e636f6d2f4d65726368616e74322f67726170686963732f30303030303030312f534d414c4c532d31392e4a5047

I'll be tidying up the ui and starting to work on the copy over the next week or so. @jeejkang https://github.com/jeejkang Do you have a time estimation on the illustration stuff?

https://a248.e.akamai.net/camo.github.com/e33144c73ee2e8b35260f0060aa328a0f74ed5af/687474703a2f2f636c2e6c792f4b75484e2f53637265656e25323053686f74253230323031322d31312d31342532306174253230332e31332e3136253230504d2e706e67

I'm gonna need mad screenshots. Preferably on a Retina laptop so I can just retina-ready them from the start. What features do you think you'll want to show off in the bottom buckets? @wfarr https://github.com/wfarr @jbarnette https://github.com/jbarnette Also checkout the copy in that top box, since that space isn't going to be super flexible.

I would say we could probably ship next Friday if @jeejkanghttps://github.com/jeejkangis ready by then.

[image: :boat:]

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/boxen/boxen.github.com/pull/2#issuecomment-10391272.

[jeejkang]

I can start working on the illustrations on monday? @nrrrdcore Let's talk on Monday and make this happen?!

[nrrrdcore]

@jeejkang fuck yes.

[nrrrdcore]

@ymendel @skalnik any ideas for screenshots in those bottom two buckets? I was thinking the locked out screen and the setup running in terminal. @wfarr does the script now read BOXEN like it did THE SETUP?

[ymendel]

Man, I'm not sure what's a good way to show off a feature of Boxen. Kind of want a picture of someone leaning back and ignoring their computer, feet up.

[skalnik]

I can't think of many. Maybe a screenshot of it just running in Terminal.app? That's not too exciting though. Screenshots are tricky with an app that you're basically never supposed to see, it just magics things.

[wfarr]

I actually kind of like this idea, but only if you'll be one of the models. We need to keep it classy and fashionable, so bring your cane!

Sent from my mobile device

On Nov 14, 2012, at 8:10 PM, Yossef Mendelssohn notifications@github.com wrote:

Kind of want a picture of someone leaning back and ignoring their computer, feet up.

[wfarr]

One potential good screenshot would be the Boxen port of setup-web.

I'll port that tomorrow.

Sent from my mobile device

On Nov 14, 2012, at 8:15 PM, Mike Skalnik notifications@github.com wrote:

I can't think of many. Maybe a screenshot of it just running in Terminal.app? That's not too exciting though. Screenshots are tricky with an app that you're basically never supposed to see, it just magics things.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[skalnik]

I didn't even know that was getting ported. That'd be excellent.

[nrrrdcore]

@ymendel sorry bud, I wasn't really asking for design advice. More along the lines of copy.

[nrrrdcore]

@wfarr excellent.

[ymendel]

@nrrrdcore : I guess I'm just confused. You mentioned screenshots, but the main thing with Boxen is there's not really much to show, at least if you're not :neckbeard:y.

[nrrrdcore]

Nah, there's plenty. Don't worry your pretty little cane. I got this.

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 14, 2012, at 7:08 PM, Yossef Mendelssohn notifications@github.com wrote:

@nrrrdcore : I guess I'm just confused. You mentioned screenshots, but the main thing with Boxen is there's not really much to show, at least if you're not y.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[nrrrdcore]

Added a retina-octocated footer a-la hubot because yes.

[nrrrdcore]

@ymendel yo I just realized I was unnecessarily mean to you up there. My apologies. I read your comment incorrectly.

:heart: :new: :star: t

[wfarr]

Here's an example screenshot for the Boxen-Web stuff. I took some liberties playing around with the copy and layout to make it less GitHub-specific.

Thoughts?

[wfarr]

Clarified above with an edit to note it's intended for one of the screenshot slots.

[nrrrdcore]

That might be a good idea! I really really really want this

and also the script running in the terminal. Impossible? Should I get someone with a camera to take a photo of it? How do we feel about real photos to capture the magic?

Just spitballing here. There is no emoji for spitballing.

[skalnik]

I think the lock screen stuff would be cool, but I'm also responsible for it :+1:. It is custom to us, but I've made it easy for other folks to also add one easily.

I think the script running in Terminal would be cool, but I fear it's not very exciting. Output also varies a lot between different people (and their unique setups) and how much a machine already has installed or not.

[nrrrdcore]

I'm totally comfortable with showing what we've done with Boxen. It's fine if everything isn't pre-packaged. I think it's great to show off it's potential and configurability.

On Nov 15, 2012, at 3:13 PM, Mike Skalnik notifications@github.com wrote:

I think the lock screen stuff would be cool, but I'm also responsible for it . It is custom to us, but I've made it easy for other folks to also add one easily.

I think the script running in Terminal would be cool, but I fear it's not very exciting. Output also varies a lot between different people (and their unique setups) and how much a machine already has installed or not.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[ymendel]

@nrrrdcore : No worries. If being mean to me isn't directly warranted by one of our interactions, you're probably just making up for someone else slacking off on it.

We can mos def get some lock screen stuff there. I vote @skalnik provides the screenshot because he has a cool username and he's responsible for it. And @wfarr or @jbarnette (or maybe @rodjek) are probably the go-to people to know how to get the most compelling screenshot of it running in Terminal.

[skalnik]

I can take the screenshot, are there any background recommendations for it?

[wfarr]

Here's a screenshot of boxen running from the new boxen-web stuff:

[wfarr]

Code is here

[skalnik]

I took a screenshot with the default MOLO wallpaper: http://f.cl.ly/items/2C2D0W462w2G333b2p30/awesome.png

[wfarr]

Can't view your image.

Sent from my mobile device

On Nov 15, 2012, at 8:16 PM, Mike Skalnik notifications@github.com wrote:

I took a screenshot with the default MOLO wallpaper:

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[skalnik]

Seems camo is having issues mirroring images. I replaced it with a link.

[skalnik]

What's going on with this?

[wfarr]

I think @nrrrdcore was out sick for a bit, yeah?

[nrrrdcore]

I was! Also other responsibilities. James is wrapping up the illustration. How about you fine folks start working on a blog post?

[wfarr]

I wrote up a draft several weeks ago. I'll get it online today.

On Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 2:54 PM, Julie Ann Horvath wrote:

I was! Also other responsibilities. James is wrapping up the illustration. How about you fine folks start working on a blog post?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub (https://github.com/boxen/boxen.github.com/pull/2#issuecomment-10863501).

[skalnik]

Yo @wfarr, can you toss that blog post up so we can get some :eyes: on it?

[wfarr]

drafted post

what's the status on the launch site design?

[skalnik]

Anything new on this?

[cobyism]

I’m keen to help this :ship: if there’s any way I can be of service. @nrrrdcore / @jeejkang is there anything I can help y'all out with design-wise? I also don’t want to step on anyone’s toes here either—too many cooks and whatnot—so telling me to bugger off would also be completely appropriate :laughing:

[nrrrdcore]

Awe thanks @cobyism but James and I already have most of the UI fleshed out.

We can probably wrap things up next week.

[cobyism]

Awesome :grinning: — ping me if there’s anything I can do.

[nrrrdcore]

@wfarr I tool a first stab at "feature descriptions" here. We have plenty of vertical space. Can you help flesh out these main ideas a little more. Or point out something else you'd like to incorporate.