Very first impression of OpenJSCAD

[paganaye]

First impression

This is my very first impression of OpenJSCAD.

That moment matters: it's the one-time moment where a user decides whether to continue exploring... or leave and look for something else.

When visiting https://openjscad.xyz, the user is greeted with:

• A blank 3D space

• No welcome message, no example model

• An empty intimidating UI

This creates a poor first impression and may discourage exploration, especially for new users.

Suggestions

1. Initial UI Improvements

A menu (e.g. “File”, “View”) would be more familiar to most.
While the 3 icons in the right side feels modern and expected, the left side (checkboxes & file input) feels outdated.
The menu could classically let you choose which toolbar you want to see visible, open an example or .

2. Welcome dialog / onboarding

Show a “Welcome” dialog like in OpenSCAD:

Example designs

[ ] Don’t show this again checkbox

“Help” button

This would guide the user and provide immediate value.

3. Default model or instruction

Load a simple model by default (e.g. cube/logo), or

4. Right panel UX issue

The right panel (Help / Source) hides half the workspace
It should be resizable, dockable and non-exclusive, so users can edit and read help simultaneously.

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These are small details, but I believe they could make a big difference in helping new users.
Thanks for for taking the time to consider this.

[hrgdavor]

Hi,

thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately, project is very low on contributor time. Few Of us contributing only can spare bits of time maintaining the project.

Since I am a second generation(or third) of contributors (I mean not here from the start) I found current jscad WEB ui incompatible with my own workflow so I created a separate project https://github.com/hrgdavor/jscadui whih is also slow and lacking contributors, but has a bit nicer version of UI: https://jscad.app ... comments are welcom, but contributions are needed too to move the project forward .