speedtest/DESIGN_SWITCH.md

Design Feature Switch

LibreSpeed now supports switching between the classic design and the new modern design.

Default Behavior

By default, LibreSpeed uses the classic design (located in index-classic.html).

Architecture

File Structure (Non-Docker)

• index.html - Entry point (lightweight switcher)
• index-classic.html - Classic design at root
• index-modern.html - Modern design at root (references assets in subdirectories)
• frontend/ - Directory containing modern design assets (CSS, JS, images, fonts) - kept for non-Docker deployments

File Structure (Docker)

Docker deployments preserve the same layout as non-Docker deployments:

• index.html - Entry point (lightweight switcher)
• index-classic.html - Classic design at root
• index-modern.html - Modern design at root
• frontend/ - Modern design assets, copied into the web root unchanged
• settings.json and server-list.json - Configuration files at root, next to index-modern.html

Benefits of the Shared Layout

✅ Docker and non-Docker deployments use the same paths ✅ Both designs are at the same level ✅ results/ and backend/ use the same relative paths from both designs ✅ The modern design loads assets consistently from frontend/ ✅ Configuration files stay at the web root, where the modern page expects them

Browser Compatibility

The feature switch uses modern JavaScript features (URLSearchParams, XMLHttpRequest). It is compatible with all modern browsers. The new design itself requires modern browser features and has no backwards compatibility with older browsers (see frontend/README.md).

Enabling the New Design

There are two ways to enable the new design:

Method 1: Configuration File (Persistent)

Edit the config.json file in the root directory and set useNewDesign to true:

{
  "useNewDesign": true
}

This will make the new design the default for all users visiting your site.

Method 2: URL Parameter (Temporary Override)

You can override the configuration by adding a URL parameter:

• To use the new design: http://yoursite.com/?design=new
• To use the classic design: http://yoursite.com/?design=classic or ?design=old

URL parameters take precedence over the configuration file, making them useful for testing or allowing users to choose their preferred design.

Design Locations

Non-Docker Deployments

• Entry Point: Root index.html file (lightweight redirect page)
• Old Design: index-classic.html at root
• New Design: index-modern.html at root (references assets in frontend/ subdirectory)
• Assets: Frontend assets (CSS, JS, images, fonts) in frontend/ subdirectory

Docker Deployments

• Entry Point: Root index.html file (lightweight redirect page)
• Old Design: index-classic.html at root
• New Design: index-modern.html at root (references assets in frontend/ subdirectory)
• Assets: Frontend assets in frontend/, copied into the web root unchanged
• Same layout as a non-Docker deployment, so the two cannot drift apart

Both designs are at the same directory level, ensuring that relative paths to shared resources like backend/ and results/ work correctly for both.

Technical Details

The feature switch is implemented in design-switch.js, which is loaded by the root index.html. It checks:

1. First, URL parameters (?design=new or ?design=old)
2. Then, the config.json configuration file
3. Redirects to either index-classic.html or index-modern.html

Both design HTML files are at the root level, eliminating path issues.

Non-Docker

The modern design references assets from the frontend/ subdirectory (e.g., frontend/styling/index.css), while both designs can access shared resources like backend/ and results/ using the same relative paths.

Docker

In Docker deployments, frontend/ is copied into the web root as it stands during container startup, so the container serves the same layout the repository has and the same paths index-modern.html asks for.