rewrite client side

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Let's face it, rieveld is ugly. Since its beginning in 2008, it has had the 
same user interface. The design language that was acceptable in 2008 is not 
acceptable today. Would it be okay if we redesigned the site?

Some things that could change:

* Remove all gif assets and replace them with svg assets or use an icon set 
like [fontawesome](http://fontawesome.io).

* Utilize HTML5 and CSS3 features like transitions and local storage.

* Use an MVC framework like [polymer](http://www.polymer-project.org/) or 
[angular](http://angularjs.org). Maybe even the [dart](http://dartlang.org) 
versions of [polymer](https://www.dartlang.org/polymer-dart/) or 
[angular](http://angulardart.org/).

I am just asking for permission. We could develop and test this on a different 
branch.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by martinch...@gmail.com on 27 Mar 2014 at 11:03

[GoogleCodeExporter]

cc'ing folks in case they are not on codereview-list@googlegroups.com.

I welcoming improving the UI. Assuming there is no conflict with the work being 
done with the folks cc'ed, I'd recommend to do it as incremental as possible, 
with small reviewable changes. This reduces the likelihood of conflicting 
changes or the risk of having a CL being refused.

One thing I'd really like is generally improving the UX on touch enabled 
devices.

Original comment by maruel@chromium.org on 28 Mar 2014 at 12:09

[GoogleCodeExporter]

+1

I would be interested to participate if I could reuse the stuff without 
complying to requirements of Apache 2.0 license in other web projects. For 
example, I could steal the keyboard shortcut processing code for Python bug 
tracker.

Original comment by techtonik@gmail.com on 28 Mar 2014 at 12:31

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Would it be okay to add dependencies? How would we be allowed to add? The 
Bootstrap CSS framework? AngularJS or PolymerJS? Dart? I think we should use 
the tools we have instead of rewriting code. Rieveld helped build the web now 
lets make it use the web it help build.

techtonik@gmail.com, why would we need to do that? 
[jQuery](http://api.jquery.com/event.which/) and 
[Dart](https://api.dartlang.org/apidocs/channels/stable/#dart-dom-html.KeyEvent)
 have this feature built in.

Original comment by martinch...@gmail.com on 28 Mar 2014 at 2:30

[GoogleCodeExporter]

martincharles07: Sure, try out whatever you want to try out.  Show us a demo 
when you are ready.

My plans for the Rietveld UI are conservative at this point.  I plan to provide 
a basic, usable UI in a "v2" branch, but that does not mean that it will be the 
only, final, or best UI.  JSON interfaces will be better in v2, so it should be 
possible to build multiple, alternative rich clients.  Basically, I'm planning 
on doing an evolution of the current UI myself, and I'll leave any revolution 
open to you and others. 

For the basic UI, I plan use a more recent server-side app framework and 
templating language; and to clean up the HTML, CSS, and JS; and do what I can 
to make it responsive and mobile-friendly... and faster.  I may use a little 
Angular, I'm not sure.

Just as my $0.02 on things to keep in mind when building a rich client-side 
app:  be sure to fully support browser features like hyperlinking to a specific 
view (and loading speed when you open such a URL), navigation history, opening 
a link in a new tab, and working on multiple reviews in multiple tabs. 

Original comment by jrobbins@google.com on 28 Mar 2014 at 11:55

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Would you be interested in smaller CLs to make the current clientside 
responsive? 

My attempts so far have been fairly successful and would be happy to devote 
more time to do this.

Original comment by paulir...@google.com on 14 Aug 2014 at 9:19

[GoogleCodeExporter]

paulirish: yes, absolutely.  Let's brainstorm and outline a little plan.  I'm 
finding that incremental improvements are all that I can bite off too.

Original comment by jrobbins@google.com on 14 Aug 2014 at 9:31