BanGUI/Docs/Web-Design.md

Frontend Design — Rules & Guidelines

Rules and conventions every designer must follow when working on BanGUI. This document defines the visual language, component usage, and design principles for the entire application. Read this before creating your first mockup or writing your first style.

Design system: Microsoft Fluent UI

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1. Design Philosophy

• Clarity over decoration. Every visual element must serve a purpose. If it does not help the user read, navigate, or act — remove it.
• Consistency over creativity. Reuse existing Fluent UI components and patterns before inventing new ones. A familiar interface lowers cognitive load.
• Content first. BanGUI is a data-heavy monitoring tool. Design around the data — tables, charts, status indicators — not around ornamental chrome.
• Quiet until necessary. The default state of the UI should feel calm and neutral. Reserve colour, motion, and elevation for moments that genuinely need attention (errors, warnings, active bans).
• Accessible by default. Every design decision must pass WCAG 2.1 AA. Colour alone must never be the only way to convey information.

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2. Theming & Colour

All colour decisions go through the Fluent UI theme system. Never hard-code hex values in components.

Theme Slots

Use semantic colour slots from ISemanticColors wherever possible. Semantic slots describe intent rather than appearance, which means the UI adapts automatically when the theme changes.

Intent	Semantic slot	Example usage
Primary action	themePrimary	Primary buttons, active nav items, links
Danger / error	errorText, errorIcon	Ban warnings, failed connections, validation errors
Success	successIcon (extend with custom slot)	Successful unban confirmation, server online status
Warning	Shared colour yellow / yellowDark	Blocklist import warnings, approaching limits
Neutral text	neutralPrimary	Body copy, table cell text
Secondary text	neutralSecondary	Metadata, timestamps, captions
Disabled	disabledText, disabledBackground	Inactive controls, unavailable jails
Surface	bodyBackground, bodyStandoutBackground	Page canvas, sidebar, card backgrounds

Custom Theme

BanGUI uses a single custom theme generated with the Fluent UI Theme Designer. The theme is defined once in code and consumed everywhere via ThemeProvider.

• The primary colour must have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 : 1 against white for text and 3 : 1 for large text and UI elements.
• Provide a dark theme variant alongside the default light theme. Both must share the same semantic slot names — only the palette values differ.
• Never reference Fluent UI palette slots (themeDarker, neutralLight, etc.) directly in components. Always go through semantic slots so theme switching works seamlessly.

Colour Rules

• Never use inline hex or RGB values. Always reference theme tokens (theme.palette.* or theme.semanticColors.*).
• Use the 9-step theme colour ramp (themeLighterAlt through themeDarker) for subtle tints and shades within the primary hue.
• Use the 14-step neutral ramp (white through black) for backgrounds, borders, and text hierarchy.
• Reserve the shared accent colours (red, yellow, green, blue) strictly for semantic meaning: errors, warnings, success, informational. Never use them decoratively.
• When two adjacent regions need separation, prefer a 1 px neutralLight border or a subtle background shift (bodyStandoutBackground) over a heavy line.

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3. Typography

Use the Fluent UI type ramp exclusively. Do not introduce custom font sizes.

Type Ramp

Token	Size	Weight	Usage in BanGUI
FontSizes.size28	28 px	Semibold (600)	Page titles — "Ban Overview", "Jail Management"
FontSizes.size20	20 px	Semibold (600)	Section headers — "Ban List", "Server Settings"
FontSizes.size16	16 px	Semibold (600)	Card titles, panel headers, sub-section labels
FontSizes.size14	14 px	Regular (400)	Body text, table cell content, form labels, buttons
FontSizes.size12	12 px	Regular (400)	Metadata: timestamps, IP geolocation tags, ban counts, tooltips
FontSizes.size10	10 px	Regular (400)	Badges, disclaimer text, chart axis labels (use sparingly)

Typography Rules

• Font family — Use the Fluent default (Segoe UI, with the standard fallback stack). Never override the font family unless a monospace context demands it (log output, regex patterns, IP addresses — use Consolas, "Courier New", monospace for those).
• Weight — Only two weights in regular UI: Regular (400) for body text and Semibold (600) for headings and emphasis. Use Bold (700) only in exceptional data visualisation contexts.
• Line height — Follow the recommended line heights from the Fluent type ramp (e.g., 14 px text → 20 px line-height, 20 px text → 28 px line-height).
• Text colour hierarchy — Use neutralPrimary for primary text, neutralSecondary for secondary/supporting text, and neutralTertiary only for placeholder text.
• Alignment — Left-align all text by default. Centre-align only short labels inside cards or stat badges. Never right-align body text.
• Truncation — Long text (IP addresses, log paths, regex patterns) must truncate with an ellipsis and show the full content in a tooltip on hover.
• Monospace contexts — IP addresses, regex patterns, log paths, code snippets, and jail filter expressions must always render in monospace for readability.

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4. Layout & Spacing

Grid

• Use a 12-column responsive grid. In Fluent UI React, prefer CSS Grid or Stack for layout rather than Fabric Core grid classes.
• The main content area sits next to a fixed-width side navigation (240 px collapsed to 48 px on small screens).
• Maximum content width: 1440 px, centred on ultra-wide monitors.

Breakpoints

Follow the Fluent UI breakpoint scale:

Name	Range	Layout behaviour
Small	320 – 479 px	Single column, collapsed nav, stacked cards
Medium	480 – 639 px	Single column, optional side nav overlay
Large	640 – 1023 px	Two columns, side nav visible
Extra large	1024 – 1365 px	Full layout, side nav + main + optional aside
XX-large	1366 – 1919 px	Comfortable full layout
XXX-large	1920 px +	Max-width content, extra breathing room

Spacing Scale

Use the Fluent 4 px base unit for all spacing. Common values:

Token	Value	Usage
s2	4 px	Inline spacing between icon and label
s1	8 px	Padding inside compact elements (badges, chips)
m	16 px	Standard padding inside cards and panels
l1	20 px	Gap between table rows / list items
l2	32 px	Margin between sections on a page
xl	48 px	Top margin for page content below the header

Spacing Rules

• Never use arbitrary pixel values. Always snap to the 4 px grid (4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 32, 40, 48…).
• Padding inside a card or panel: 16 px on all sides.
• Gap between cards in a grid: 16 px.
• Gap between a page title and the first content block: 24 px.
• Table cell padding: 12 px horizontal, 8 px vertical.

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5. Elevation & Depth

Use Fluent UI depth levels to communicate layering. Do not create custom box-shadow values.

Level	Token	Usage in BanGUI
Depth 4	Depths.depth4	Cards, grid tiles, stat summaries on the dashboard
Depth 8	Depths.depth8	Command bars, dropdown menus, filter popups
Depth 16	Depths.depth16	Tooltips, hover cards (IP info popup), teaching callouts
Depth 64	Depths.depth64	Modal dialogs (ban/unban confirmation), side panels

Elevation Rules

• A surface's depth must match its semantic importance. A card sits at depth 4; a dialog demanding user action sits at depth 64.
• The page canvas has zero elevation — it is the baseline.
• Only one modal level may be visible at a time. Never stack dialogs.
• When a dropdown or popup opens, the rest of the interface should receive an overlay scrim (rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4)) only for depth-64 surfaces (modals). Lighter popups (depth 8–16) dismiss on outside click without a scrim.

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6. Motion & Animation

All animations follow Fluent motion principles. Motion should feel natural, purposeful, and quick.

Timing

Duration	Token	Usage
100 ms	MotionDurations.duration1	Micro-interactions: button press, checkbox toggle
200 ms	MotionDurations.duration2	Fade in/out of tooltips, small element transitions
300 ms	MotionDurations.duration3	Panel slide-in, page transitions, list reordering
400 ms	MotionDurations.duration4	Large surface entrance (full-screen modals, first-load hero)

Easing

Curve	Token	When to use
Decelerate	MotionTimings.decelerate	Elements entering the view (slide in, fade in)
Accelerate	MotionTimings.accelerate	Elements leaving the view (slide out, fade out)
Standard	MotionTimings.standard	Elements that reposition within the view
Linear	MotionTimings.linear	Opacity-only transitions (fade out before a drill-in)

Animation Patterns

Interaction	Pattern	Details
Opening a jail detail panel	Slide right in	Panel slides from right edge, content fades in after 100 ms delay
Banning / unbanning an IP	Delete & Slide	Row fades out (300 ms decelerate), remaining rows slide up (300 ms)
Switching dashboard tabs	Tabs & Pivots	Active indicator slides (300 ms), outgoing content slides out, incoming slides in with 100 ms delay
Navigating to a sub-page	Drill In	Old content fades out (100 ms linear), new content scales down in (300 ms decelerate)

Motion Rules

• Never animate something the user did not trigger. Auto-refreshing data should appear without animation — just update in place.
• Respect prefers-reduced-motion. When the OS or browser signals reduced motion, disable all non-essential animations and replace them with instant state changes.
• No loading spinners longer than 1 second without explanation. If a network call exceeds 1 s, show a skeleton screen or a contextual loading message, not just a spinner.
• Keep looping animations (pulsing status dots, progress bars) subtle and small-area. Never animate large surfaces continuously.

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7. Iconography

• Use the Fluent UI icon set (@fluentui/react-icons or the Fabric Core icon font). Do not introduce third-party icon libraries.
• Icon size follows the adjacent text: 16 px icons next to 14 px body text, 20 px icons next to 16–20 px headers.
• Icons must always have a text label or an aria-label. Icon-only buttons are acceptable only in toolbars and compact table rows, and they must have a tooltip.
• Use outline icon variants by default. Switch to filled only for active or selected states (e.g., filled star for a favourited jail).
• Icon colour inherits from the text colour of its context. Override only for semantic purposes (red icon for errors, green for success).

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8. Component Usage

Use Fluent UI React components as the building blocks. The following mapping shows which component to use for each BanGUI feature area.

Navigation

Element	Fluent component	Notes
Side navigation	Nav	Persistent on large screens, collapsible on small. Groups: Dashboard, Map, Jails, Config, History, Blocklists.
Breadcrumbs	Breadcrumb	Show on detail pages (Jail > sshd, History > IP detail).
Page tabs	Pivot	None currently (previous tabs removed).

Data Display

Element	Fluent component	Notes
Data tables	DetailsList	All ban tables, jail overviews, history tables. Enable column sorting, selection, and shimmer loading.
Stat cards	DocumentCard or custom Stack card	Dashboard status bar — server status, total bans, active jails. Use Depth 4.
Status indicators	Badge / Icon + colour	Server online/offline, jail running/stopped/idle.
Country labels	Monospaced text + flag emoji or icon	Geo data next to IP addresses.

Forms & Actions

Element	Fluent component	Notes
Primary actions	PrimaryButton	"Ban IP", "Save Configuration", "Run Import Now".
Secondary actions	DefaultButton	"Cancel", "Reset", "Clear Filters".
Danger actions	PrimaryButton with danger styling	"Unban All", "Flush Chain". Red theme override on themePrimary.
Text inputs	TextField	IP address entry, regex pattern input, search fields.
Dropdowns	Dropdown	Jail selector, time-range presets, log level picker.
Toggles	Toggle	Enable/disable jail, enable blocklist source, ignore-self toggle.
Confirmations	Dialog	Confirm ban, confirm unban-all, confirm delete actions. Always require explicit user action.

Feedback

Element	Fluent component	Notes
Success messages	MessageBar (success)	"IP 1.2.3.4 has been banned in jail sshd."
Error messages	MessageBar (error)	"Failed to connect to fail2ban server."
Warning messages	MessageBar (warning)	"Blocklist import encountered 12 invalid entries."
Loading states	Shimmer	Apply to DetailsList rows and stat cards while data loads.
Empty states	Custom illustration + text	"No bans recorded in the last 24 hours." Centre on the content area.
Tooltips	Tooltip / TooltipHost	Full IP info on hover, full regex on truncated text, icon-only button labels.

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9. Tables & Data Grids

Tables are the primary UI element in BanGUI. They must be treated with extreme care.

• Use Fluent UI's DetailsList for all tabular data.
• Column widths: Give the widest anticipated content enough room. IP addresses need ~140 px, timestamps ~180 px, country codes ~80 px. Use minWidth and maxWidth on each column.
• Row density: Use compact mode for tables with many rows (ban lists, history) and normal mode for tables with fewer rows (jail overview, blocklist sources).
• Sorting: Every column with comparable data must be sortable. Default sort: newest first for time-based tables.
• Selection: Table rows for actionable entities (banned IPs, jails) must support single selection that highlights the row and enables contextual actions in a command bar above.
• Shimmer loading: When data is loading, show shimmer placeholder rows matching the expected column layout. Never show a blank table body.
• Empty state: When the table has zero rows, display a centred message and icon inside the table frame (e.g., "No bans in this time range").
• Sticky header: Table headers must stick to the top of the scrollable area so column labels are always visible.
• Zebra striping: Do not use alternating row colours. Fluent UI relies on hover and selection highlights instead.
• Pagination vs. virtual scrolling: For tables that may exceed 100 rows, use virtual scrolling (DetailsList supports this natively). Avoid traditional pagination.

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10. Cards & Stat Blocks

The dashboard uses cards to display key figures (server status, total bans, active jails).

• Each card is a contained surface at Depth 4 with 16 px padding on all sides.
• Card layout: icon or status dot (left) + large numeric value (FontSizes.size28, semibold) + label (FontSizes.size12, neutralSecondary).
• Cards arrange in a horizontal row using Stack with horizontal tokens and 16 px gap.
• On small screens, cards stack vertically in a single column.
• Do not put actions inside stat cards. They are read-only summaries. Actions belong in context menus or command bars.

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11. World Map View

• The map renders country outlines only — no fill colours, no satellite imagery, no terrain shading.
• Countries with banned IPs display a count badge centred inside the country polygon. Use FontSizes.size14 semibold, themePrimary colour.
• Countries with zero bans remain completely blank — no label, no tint.
• On hover: country region gets a subtle neutralLighterAlt fill. On click: fill shifts to themeLighterAlt and the companion table below filters to that country.
• The map must have a light neutral border (neutralLight) around its container, at Depth 4.
• Time-range selector above the map uses Pivot with quick presets (24 h, 7 d, 30 d, 365 d).

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12. Forms & Inputs

• Use TextField with a visible label above the input (not a floating label).
• Every text input must show a description or placeholder that illustrates the expected format (e.g., 192.168.1.0/24).
• Validation errors appear below the input using the built-in errorMessage prop — red text, small size (FontSizes.size12).
• Group related fields inside a bordered Stack or a GroupedList with a section header.
• Action buttons sit at the bottom-right of a form group, with primary on the right and secondary (Cancel) on the left.
• For the Regex Tester: use a side-by-side layout — sample log line on the left, regex input on the right, match result highlighted below. Monospace font for both fields.

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13. Feedback & Status

Server Status Bar

• A thin horizontal bar at the very top of the content area (below the nav header).
• Online: green dot + "fail2ban running — v0.11.2 — 14 jails — 231 total bans". Use FontSizes.size12, neutralSecondary.
• Offline / unreachable: red dot + "fail2ban server unreachable" in errorText colour. Bar background shifts to a very light red tint.
• This bar is non-dismissible and always visible.

Inline Feedback

• After a successful action (ban, unban, save config): show a MessageBar of type success at the top of the current content area, auto-dismiss after 5 seconds.
• After a failed action: show a MessageBar of type error, not auto-dismissed — the user must close it manually.
• Warnings (import issues, validation hints) use MessageBar of type warning, not auto-dismissed.

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14. Dark Theme

• Every screen must look correct in both light and dark themes.
• Design light theme first, then verify dark theme by swapping the palette in the Theme Designer.
• Never assume white backgrounds. Always use bodyBackground or bodyStandoutBackground from the theme.
• Never use black text directly. Always use neutralPrimary, which adapts to both themes.
• Images, illustrations, and the world map must have transparent or theme-aware backgrounds that do not create harsh rectangles in dark mode.
• Test contrast ratios in both themes — a colour that passes AA on white may fail on dark grey.

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15. Accessibility

• Colour contrast: All text must meet WCAG 2.1 AA minimums (4.5 : 1 for normal text, 3 : 1 for large text and UI components). Use the Fluent UI colour accessibility guide as reference.
• Keyboard navigation: Every interactive element must be reachable via Tab and operable with Enter or Space. Sidebar navigation, table row selection, dropdown menus — all must work without a mouse.
• Focus indicators: Use the default Fluent UI focus ring (2 px themePrimary outline). Never hide or override focus styles.
• Screen readers: Every icon-only button has an aria-label. Tables use aria-sort on sortable columns. Status indicators have aria-live="polite" regions so screen readers announce changes.
• Reduced motion: Wrap all custom animations in a prefers-reduced-motion media query and provide an instant fallback.
• Touch targets: All interactive elements have a minimum tap target of 44 x 44 px on touch devices (achieved via padding if the visible element is smaller).

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16. Design Tokens & File Organisation

• All theme definitions live in a single file: theme/appTheme.ts.
• All spacing, sizing, and z-index constants live in theme/tokens.ts.
• Components consume tokens via the theme context — never import raw pixel values.
• When a design requires a value not already in the token set, add it to the shared tokens file and document its purpose. Never define a one-off constant inside a component.

// theme/appTheme.ts
import { createTheme } from "@fluentui/react";

export const lightTheme = createTheme({
  palette: {
    themePrimary: "#0078d4",
    themeDarkAlt: "#106ebe",
    // ... generated via Theme Designer
  },
});

export const darkTheme = createTheme({
  palette: {
    themePrimary: "#2b88d8",
    themeDarkAlt: "#3aa0f3",
    // ...
  },
});

// theme/tokens.ts
export const spacing = {
  xs: 4,
  s: 8,
  m: 16,
  l: 24,
  xl: 32,
  xxl: 48,
} as const;

export const contentMaxWidth = 1440;
export const sideNavWidth = 240;
export const sideNavCollapsedWidth = 48;

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17. Do-Not-Do List

Do	Do Not
Use Fluent UI components for every standard control	Build custom buttons, dropdowns, or modals from scratch
Reference theme tokens for all colours	Hard-code hex values like #ff0000 in components
Follow the 4 px spacing grid	Use arbitrary pixel values (13 px, 7 px, 19 px)
Provide a tooltip for every icon-only button	Leave icons unlabelled and inaccessible
Use Shimmer for loading states	Show a blank screen or a standalone spinner with no context
Design for both light and dark themes	Default to white backgrounds assuming light mode only
Use DetailsList for all tabular data	Use raw HTML <table> elements or a third-party data grid
Use semantic colour slots (errorText, bodyBackground)	Use descriptive palette slots (red, neutralLight) directly
Use prefers-reduced-motion for all custom animation	Force animation on users with motion sensitivities
Test with keyboard and screen reader before signing off	Assume mouse-only usage

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18. References

• Fluent UI — Get Started
• Fluent UI — Typography
• Fluent UI — Colour Theme Slots
• Fluent UI — Elevation
• Fluent UI — Layout
• Fluent UI — Motion
• Fluent UI Theme Designer
• Colour Accessibility Guide (PDF)
• WCAG 2.1 AA Guidelines