4 ms·

I just can't get into Phabricator. Babel switched to it for issues. I find it hard finding anything. I kind of wish they would mirror the issues on to Github

by dham 11y ago

I just can't get into Phabricator. Babel switched to it for issues. I find it hard finding anything. I kind of wish they would mirror the issues on to Github. When I see Phabricator I just don't see anything. I just see a blob of text dumped to the screen. Maybe it's because I'm so use to Github.

sdesol 11y ago
No it's not just you. I find it hard to explain but GitHub does have the right amount of white/empty space to make consumption of information easier. I've always hated the simplicity of GitHub's layout, but after studying their commits and branches pages for my product, I've grown to appreciate their simplicity. It's the little things that GitHub does, that I've found makes the difference. Take GitLab's branches page here: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/branches https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/branches vs https://github.com/gitlabhq/gitlabhq/branches https://github.com/gitlabhq/gitlabhq/branches By limiting the number of branches shown and by creating strong visual breaks/barriers, they make it way easier for the user to focus. Seeing a wall of branches is okay ... when that's what you want, but as a default, by organizing it the way that GitHub does, they make their branches page significantly easier to consume. I also find the buttons too be a little too big in GitLab and they don't have enough definition to them, to help you focus on them. Creating merge requests and comparing branches is the focal point of the branches page, and they should make it easier for your eyes to lock onto them. Like I said, it's the little things that I can't explain that I've come to respect and I don't think it's just because we are familar with GitHub.
- jibberia 11y ago
  Agreed. I just signed up to try out GitLab and went to browse GitLab's own source code to see what they were using. First thing: Rails, clearly. Second thing: Holy crap, I have to scroll this much on my laptop to browse their project? The amount of whitespace is bonkers. A bit of googling tells me that they made this change a few months ago with GitLab 8.0, but the bug report about the whitespace seems to have been ignored. I really like what GitLab is doing, but I also really like a powerful web-based repository browser (search tool included). Hopefully they just went a bit wild with the UI and they'll rein it in. (I also checked Preferences and they have a switch for fixed vs. fluid layout, so maybe they've been responsive to UI-change revolt in the past?)
- eeZi 11y ago
  Ack, OP is talking about Phabricator vs. GitHub though. For anyone wondering.
  - sdesol 11y ago
    I was commenting more on how there is a hidden element that GitHub has, that would explain why the person that I responded to would feel he/she was looking at a wall of text. I used GitLab and GitHub's branches page as an example, since I studied both quite a bit and it was easy to highlight how sparseness has it's advantages and how it can shape ones perception.
- slavik81 11y ago
  We used GitLab for a few months, until we could get spending approval for Github. The switch was surprisingly controversial, as the GitLab network view was apparently much more useful than the Github network view.
  - sdesol 11y ago
    I don't disagree with GitLab's network view being more useful. People also shouldn't assume GitHub isn't fallible with their decisions. The fact that it took, I don't know how many years for them to implement side by side diffs is living proof of this. GitLab just needs to work on the little things and they can really be disruptive to GitHub's business. Another little change that I think would go a long way, is changing the folder icon. I don't know why, but the round corners in the folder icon really irks me. There is also something off about the font that they are using. I think it's just too thick, but I can't really put my finger on it.
eeZi 11y ago
Opposite for me. After using Phabricator for a while, the GitHub issue tracker feels so primitive.
sandGorgon 11y ago
the other issue with phabricator is workflow. The way I think (and most other people) is on a repo basis - all bugs, reviews, wiki is contained within a repo level. However phabricator maintains different "applications" - bugs, repos,etc. so to look at the bugs for a repo, I have to go to the top level, click on Maniphest (the bug tracking "application" ) and go to the project and then click on a bug. very unintuitive.

by dham 11y ago

sdesol 11y ago

No it's not just you. I find it hard to explain but GitHub does have the right amount of white/empty space to make consumption of information easier. I've always hated the simplicity of GitHub's layout, but after studying their commits and branches pages for my product, I've grown to appreciate their simplicity. It's the little things that GitHub does, that I've found makes the difference. Take GitLab's branches page here: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/branches https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/branches vs https://github.com/gitlabhq/gitlabhq/branches https://github.com/gitlabhq/gitlabhq/branches By limiting the number of branches shown and by creating strong visual breaks/barriers, they make it way easier for the user to focus. Seeing a wall of branches is okay ... when that's what you want, but as a default, by organizing it the way that GitHub does, they make their branches page significantly easier to consume. I also find the buttons too be a little too big in GitLab and they don't have enough definition to them, to help you focus on them. Creating merge requests and comparing branches is the focal point of the branches page, and they should make it easier for your eyes to lock onto them. Like I said, it's the little things that I can't explain that I've come to respect and I don't think it's just because we are familar with GitHub.

jibberia 11y ago
Agreed. I just signed up to try out GitLab and went to browse GitLab's own source code to see what they were using. First thing: Rails, clearly. Second thing: Holy crap, I have to scroll this much on my laptop to browse their project? The amount of whitespace is bonkers. A bit of googling tells me that they made this change a few months ago with GitLab 8.0, but the bug report about the whitespace seems to have been ignored. I really like what GitLab is doing, but I also really like a powerful web-based repository browser (search tool included). Hopefully they just went a bit wild with the UI and they'll rein it in. (I also checked Preferences and they have a switch for fixed vs. fluid layout, so maybe they've been responsive to UI-change revolt in the past?)
eeZi 11y ago
Ack, OP is talking about Phabricator vs. GitHub though. For anyone wondering.
- sdesol 11y ago
  I was commenting more on how there is a hidden element that GitHub has, that would explain why the person that I responded to would feel he/she was looking at a wall of text. I used GitLab and GitHub's branches page as an example, since I studied both quite a bit and it was easy to highlight how sparseness has it's advantages and how it can shape ones perception.
slavik81 11y ago
We used GitLab for a few months, until we could get spending approval for Github. The switch was surprisingly controversial, as the GitLab network view was apparently much more useful than the Github network view.
- sdesol 11y ago
  I don't disagree with GitLab's network view being more useful. People also shouldn't assume GitHub isn't fallible with their decisions. The fact that it took, I don't know how many years for them to implement side by side diffs is living proof of this. GitLab just needs to work on the little things and they can really be disruptive to GitHub's business. Another little change that I think would go a long way, is changing the folder icon. I don't know why, but the round corners in the folder icon really irks me. There is also something off about the font that they are using. I think it's just too thick, but I can't really put my finger on it.

eeZi 11y ago

Opposite for me. After using Phabricator for a while, the GitHub issue tracker feels so primitive.

sandGorgon 11y ago

the other issue with phabricator is workflow. The way I think (and most other people) is on a repo basis - all bugs, reviews, wiki is contained within a repo level. However phabricator maintains different "applications" - bugs, repos,etc. so to look at the bugs for a repo, I have to go to the top level, click on Maniphest (the bug tracking "application" ) and go to the project and then click on a bug. very unintuitive.