No link to "latest" version of a library

[Dave Abrahams]

Except for legacy libraries that have a suitable redirect link from libs/libraryname/, there is now no way to produce a link to the latest documentation for a given library. Also, the "permanent" redirects from libs/libraryname/ keep getting updated to point at whatever the latest version happens to be. I'm no expert, but I'm guessing that's bad web practice. In addition to links like http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_37_0/doc/html/mpi.html can't we also have http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/latest/doc/html/mpi.html?

Also (separate feature), if I know the name of the library, can't you give me a reasonably short URL that will visit its latest docs without having to navigate there? That's especially bad if it's impossible (see #2490).

[Daniel James]

It'd be much easier to deal with this ticket if it was split into separate tickets for each request.

For the main complaint, I'll make sure all the libraries have appropriate forwarding index files, I'm not sure why you think that libs/library-name only works for 'legacy' libraries, as I've been making sure that new libraries have them (eg http://www.boost.org/libs/flyweight/). Although I haven't been doing that for sub-libraries (such as swap, which is part of utility), maybe I should.

As for #2490, did you see my comment? The categorized library list is now live and looks a lot like 'libs/libraries.htm'.

I'm afraid that not going to reorganize the urls anytime soon, but you're wrong about the redirects. The permanent redirects go to the release url:

$ curl -I http://www.boost.org/libs/python/
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:33:07 GMT
Server: Apache/2.0.52 (Red Hat)
Location: http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/release/libs/python/
Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1

This then gets a 302 redirect, which isn't permanent:

HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:34:35 GMT
Server: Apache/2.0.52 (Red Hat)
Location: http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_38_0/libs/python/
Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1

Of course, most people won't be aware of the difference.

[Dave Abrahams]

Replying to danieljames:

It'd be much easier to deal with this ticket if it was split into separate tickets for each request.

Sorry. Sometimes all I can muster is to put something in the tracker.

For the main complaint, I'll make sure all the libraries have appropriate forwarding index files, I'm not sure why you think that libs/library-name only works for 'legacy' libraries, as I've been making sure that new libraries have them (eg http://www.boost.org/libs/flyweight/).

Because it failed for me at least once, I drew that conclusion.

Although I haven't been doing that for sub-libraries (such as swap, which is part of utility), maybe I should.

Prolly.

As for #2490, did you see my comment? The categorized library list is now live and looks a lot like 'libs/libraries.htm'.

Yes, I saw the comment. You should update the comment to say it's live. The fact that it's live doesn't make it reachable. I really do think "Libraries" should still be a top-level link on the home page. The libraries page is not only a set of docs, but a catalogue of what's in Boost.

I'm afraid that not going to reorganize the urls anytime soon, but you're wrong about the redirects. The permanent redirects go to the release url

Of course, most people won't be aware of the difference.

Like me. OK, that's good to know; I'll use the release URL in the future.

[Daniel James]

I've added some 'quick links' to the welcome section on the sidebar on the beta site. Let me know what you think.

[Dave Abrahams]

I like it. However, shouldn't we be discussing this in #2490?

[Dean Michael Berris]

Should we consider this bug closed then? I am able to use /libs/library_name with no problems now.

[Dave Abrahams]

Yes, we can close it. The fact that the short link is a redirect is sub-optimal when it comes to search engines, but there you go.