Currently, code.djangoproject.com aims to share the same header, footer, and much of the CSS as djangoproject.com. As a result, the repository includes instructions for porting CSS changes from djangoproject.com to code.djangoproject.com.
In practice, this duplication has proven difficult to maintain. Keeping the header, footer, and associated CSS in sync requires ongoing manual effort, and they frequently drift apart.
I would like to propose that we stop trying to make code.djangoproject.com visually match djangoproject.com, and instead allow it to have its own, much simpler UI.
For example:
- Replace the current shared header with a simple, self-contained header that includes a link back to djangoproject.com.
- Remove the footer entirely (similar to forum.djangoproject.com, which has its own header and no footer).
- Keep the HTML and CSS for code.djangoproject.com independent of djangoproject.com.
This would remove the need to keep two separate codebases visually synchronized and eliminate the maintenance burden of porting CSS changes between them. It would also allow the existing "How to port the CSS from djangoproject.com" documentation to be removed.
A similar approach is used by the Python project. The documentation site (https://docs.python.org/3/) clearly links back to the main Python website (https://www.python.org/), but the two sites do not attempt to share the same visual design.
The primary goal of this proposal is to reduce maintenance overhead while still providing clear navigation between the Django websites.
Currently, code.djangoproject.com aims to share the same header, footer, and much of the CSS as djangoproject.com. As a result, the repository includes instructions for porting CSS changes from djangoproject.com to code.djangoproject.com.
In practice, this duplication has proven difficult to maintain. Keeping the header, footer, and associated CSS in sync requires ongoing manual effort, and they frequently drift apart.
I would like to propose that we stop trying to make code.djangoproject.com visually match djangoproject.com, and instead allow it to have its own, much simpler UI.
For example:
This would remove the need to keep two separate codebases visually synchronized and eliminate the maintenance burden of porting CSS changes between them. It would also allow the existing "How to port the CSS from djangoproject.com" documentation to be removed.
A similar approach is used by the Python project. The documentation site (https://docs.python.org/3/) clearly links back to the main Python website (https://www.python.org/), but the two sites do not attempt to share the same visual design.
The primary goal of this proposal is to reduce maintenance overhead while still providing clear navigation between the Django websites.